The shrill dental drills so many patients dread may be replacedby new lasers that quietly send decay up in smoke, Chicago arearesearchers are finding.
"The silent removal of decay will appeal to many patients," saidDr. Leo Miserendino, a Waukegan endodontist, or root specialist, whoheads several studies on a new type of dental laser.
Miserendino, who teaches at Marquette University in Milwaukee,has tried the new Neodymium:YAG laser in his own mouth. "There's nosensation. You don't feel any heat. There's just a little poppingnoise," he said.
Until now, the few dentists who work with lasers have usedcarbon dioxide (CO2) lasers for surgery on the gums and other softtissue in the mouth.
But Miserendino said these lasers are heavy and cannot easilybe focused on small areas of decay on the back or side of a tooth."You can't go around a curve with a CO2," he said.
He said the YAG laser, unlike the CO2 laser, allows concentratedlaser light to be directed along a fiber weighing only ounces. "Witha YAG, you can get into areas that are hard to reach with a drill,"he said.
Miserendino said the YAG beam is aimed at dark, decayed spotsand vaporizes decay.
Dr. Arthur Vassiliadis, chief executive officer of SunriseTechnologies, Sunnyvale, Calif., the YAG's developers, said researchis being conducted to determine whether a laser treatment without afilling is adequate for shallow decay.
Miserendino, who is studying the YAG for root-canal treatments,said the lasers sterilize the tooth as they vaporize.
Dr. Robert Pick, a Northwestern University gum specialist, islooking at the new laser's advantages in vaporizing inflamed tissuedeep in the pockets surrounding the teeth. Cleaning instrumentsusually are used to scrape these areas, resulting in some bleeding,he said.
Pick noted the laser reduces bleeding because it seals bloodvessels as it cuts. Vassiliadis expects the Food and DrugAdministration to approve the $50,000 YAG by the end of the year.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий