A few days ago we announced Downtown Dental now offers
WaterLase iPlus Laser Dentistry which provides injection-free, pain-free dentistry for many of
our procedures including
fillings,
whitening and
gum disease prevention.
Since our announcement, we’ve heard from several patients who are excited to try the new procedure at their next visit. Not surprisingly, many of them have asked the same question, “
So how does it work?” At the same time, we realize that some of you might be skeptical of the pain-free WaterLase iPlus Laser.
Today, we are providing a quick reasoning of how and why it works.
How the WaterLase iPlus Laser anesthetizes a tooth:
To understand why most dental work is painful, we must first understand how pain impulses work.
Any pain you experience is caused by an electrical impulse that moves through nerve fibers from the source of the pain to your brain. This impulse is a result of different ions moving into and out of the nerve fiber cells through gates. When something hurts, the gates open, ions move, and the pain impulse starts.
One way the WaterLase iPlus Laser prevents pain is by it's energy temporarily closing the ion gates. If the ion gates cannot open, no impulse can travel to the brain to be perceived as pain, thus providing anesthesia.
The WaterLase iPlus Laser avoids contact and friction.
While the Laser provides a natural anesthetic, it also helps prevent pain and shots with a new, frictionless method.
A normal dental drill works with friction, which causes heat and triggers pain. This leads to painful visits to the dentist and/or visits that leave your mouth feeling number after receiving anesthetic shots.
The WaterLase uses a unique, powerful interaction of the patented YSGG laser wavelength along with trademarked water/air spray that cuts, etches and shapes target tissues without contact to remove tooth structure and decay. This means there is no heat, friction or pressure to cause the nerve to fire an impulse to your brain.
Here’s a look at how it works:
The procedures can be done painlessly with no anesthetic. Because there is no friction, there is no pain or reason for anesthetics.
Because the laser acts as an anesthetic, there is usually no need for a shot, which means leaving the doctor’s office without any numbing. Its non-contact method will guarantee you won’t feel any pain even after the procedures is finished.
If you want to know why we’ve invested in the future of pain-free dentistry,
read this.
If you want to make sure the WaterLase iPlus Laser is used during your next dental appointment, simply
let us know when scheduling your next appointment.
For more information on WaterLase and how it works,
click here.
No doubt eco-friendly has become an important ‘buzz phrase’ in most dental offices, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because of patient awareness and inquiries. Still not sure what that means for your smile? Let these trends fill you in.
The paper factor: This past summer, the American Dental Association endorsed new deadlines for dental offices to have devices that capture dental amalgam waste so that it can be recycled. More and more dental offices are thinking and acting ‘green’ by reducing the amount of plastic used in multiple areas such as substituting digital scanning instead of plastic impression trays, and substituting cloth and paper for plastic in both sterilization and other patient protection disciplines.
Digital do-good: Digital is quickly replacing paper and plastic, so much so that many offices have converted to all-digital—especially in X-rays, charting and photo records. And while it doesn’t necessarily affect the health of a patient, it is something that helps the greater good. Biodegradable cleaners and disinfectants are now ‘in’ and dentists have become conscious of how they can make a difference in their offices every day to make their contribution towards cleaner living for our planet. We also now have 3D imaging, which is the most accurate way to get impressions, and we can use it for crowns, veneers and Invisalign. No more 'goop' is needed to get a mold of your teeth.
Lasers get more love: Sure, lasers sound like a high-tech solution for just about anything, but there’s also a real impact on what they help in terms of the environment. By use of a laser and air-abrasion, we can avoid removing so much less of a patient’s tooth structure was removed, and all without any local anesthetic. This is the future of dental patient care, which means fewer materials used because the restorative surface is so much smaller. And because many of the dental materials used today are resin-based, less material used means less resin. Also, keeping restorations smaller means less water used.
Metal is minimized: According to New York cosmetic dentist Zachary E. Linhart, DDS, recently, people have become concerned about bisphenol-A (BPA) in dental composites, in addition to the age-old worry about mercury in amalgam (metal) fillings. “No scientific, long-term studies have shown negative effects of BPA or mercury on humans in relation to dental fillings. BPA is a newer concern, and studies are still being done to see if, in these small doses, it can have a hormonal effect on humans.”
Via New Beauty Magazine
As far as my dental history goes, I've been pretty lucky. My parents always stressed the importance of taking care of my teeth and took me to the dentist on a regular basis. I never had to have braces and didn't even have a cavity for most of my 30s.
Then, as they say, "go big or go home": at 39, I had my first cavity. I didn't even know I had one until my tooth chipped over dinner. An immediate trip to the dentist revealed I not only had a cavity, but I would need a root canal and then a crown. I made it through both those things and thought it was over. I swore to myself I would do a better at staying on top of things and went on with my life.
From the day the crown was placed, it never felt "right": there was always an element of discomfort and my 24/7 awareness that it felt foreign and weird. After the first year, I started feeling more discomfort. Around year two, I began to notice gum inflammation around the crown. Unfortunately, the dentist who did the crown work had gone out of business, so I had to find a new dentist. Many of my downtown/east Nashville friends had recommended Downtown Dental.
Dr. Clark and his team were amazing from my first patient exam. Turns out I not only had a metal allergy to the original crown, but the deep placement of the crown had created significant gum infection. It wasn't the worst news, but as someone who is highly sensitive to antibiotics and tries to go the natural route whenever possible, I didn't look forward to the treatment that would clear up the infection/irritation. Enter "the laser".
I soon happily learned that dentists can use lasers for a host of incredible treatments: not only for bacterial reduction (in this case, for my gums), but for pain management/anesthesia, fillings, tooth contouring/cleaning, and even cold sores. My three laser treatments were quick, absolutely painless, and best of all, I didn't have to take any antibiotics.
The team at Downtown Dental is warm and wonderful, but even better than that, I'm thankful for a dentist who commits to painless technology as treatment versus standard pharmaceutical medication. Turns out there's a better way to do a lot of things without wreaking havoc on the body...even in dentistry.
-D. Carson, 41: Dickson, TN
