Until science and technology can come up with a way to prevent children from ever having to deal with cavities, pediatric dentists must get rid of tooth decay by traditional means. Using a dental drill to remove the part of the tooth that has been affected by decay was the accepted method until the early sixties when laser dentistry was introduced. In the past twenty years, the dental industry has discovered more and more ways to successfully use lasers.
Most dental patients dread the needle as much as they do the drill. It can be especially scary for children, but with laser dentistry, there is no needle because there is no need for anesthetic, in most cases.
Using a laser instead of drilling doesn’t necessarily speed up the process of getting the tooth ready to fill, but it does save the time of having to wait for an anesthetic to take effect. It also eliminates the unpleasant after-effects that come with having a dental procedure done. Since there are no stitches involved, there will be no bleeding and no follow-up visit to remove them.
Children often have trouble dealing with the numbness that lasts long after they leave the dentist’s office, even to the point of hurting themselves by accidentally biting the tissue around the numbed area of the mouth. No worries about that when a laser is used.
A major dentistry procedure can be expensive as well as uncomfortable. A laser can detect a cavity before it can be seen on the tooth’s surface and while it is still fairly insignificant and easy to treat. So not only is laser dentistry a much less invasive way to find and treat a cavity, but it is also economical.
There are many types of lasers being used in pediatric dental offices throughout the United States, and they are being improved upon every day in our science labs. The future of dental lasers for use in pediatric dentistry is clear-cut.
Epic Dentistry for Kids in Aurora invites you to view the videos on our Patient Education Center to learn more!
