Laser offers a drill-free, pain-free dental experience
Cavities
Cavities form when bacteria grow around the teeth. We always have bacteria in our mouths but when we eat some sugary foods, and the food sticks to the teeth, bacteria love to feast on the sugar and reproduce, forming colonies of growing germs. Each germ produces acid from the sugar that we have eaten, and the acid then start a tiny hole in the tooth surface by dissolving away the enamel that protects the tooth and keeps it able to chew.
When the hole gets large enough it opens the dentin underneath, and then no amount of brushing or flossing can remove the bacteria that grow in that opening.
Your dentist is trained to find small cavities before they become painful, and hard to treat. The dentist is also able to find the difference between teeth with stain (which can be removed with a cleaning), and a tooth with a cavity that needs a filling, a crown, or some other dental care.
During the early cavity stages, that is when a filling can prevent further damage. The filling removes any softened dentin and then plugs up the opening with a tooth colored material. (Some older dentists still use silver amalgam, which eventually discolors the tooth and expands and contracts causing small fractures in the tooth).
In the later stages the opening in the tooth can reach the nerve inside. This allows the germs to create an infection. This infection is usually painful and can produce the common toothache. Preventing a toothache is great, but when it occurs, sometimes a root canal to save the tooth is necessary, or sometimes the tooth may have to be extracted.
Drill dentistry
In the past, in order to fill a cavity with a filling, local anesthetic (novacaine) was used and then a drill to remove soft cavity material. For silver fillings a larger hole was made to keep the silver filling in place. Afterwards, a filling was placed in the opening, and the bite adjusted. For modern bonded fillings, an etching gel is brushed onto the tooth surface and then rinsed away in order to prepare the tooth for the application of a bonding liquid that hardens in place with a curing light and then cements the filling material to the tooth.
What is laser dentistry?
Nowadays, when a filling is necessary, a laser can painlessly remove the infected material in the cavity, (without needing novacaine), rapidly so that your dental visit is nice and quick. The advanced technology of the laser light instantly combines the effect of local anesthesia, the dental drill, and the preparation steps for the filling in one pass. Using air, water and the silent and vibration free vaporizing effect of the laser on dental decay, it painlessly removes only the cavity affected parts of the tooth, and simultaneously micro etches the remaining enamel to prepare the tooth for the bonded filling. This eliminates the need for the vibration of the drill, the etching gel, and for the local anesthetic, making your visit a more comfortable and faster experience. Everyone appreciates the modern reality of a quick, painless dental visit.
Call us today at 732-219-8900 for an appointment or courtesy consultation to help if you think you have cavities.