Air abrasion
There are times when you need a filling. At that same time, you are dreading the procedure. You aren't really scared of the pain because the anaesthesia will take care of it anyway. What you are usually afraid of is the drill.
Dentists call the drill a hand piece but the layman will know it as the drill. The high pitched sound created by the drill can strike fear into the heart of a Spartan warrior. The thought of the drill touching your teeth can make your muscles tense, your palms sweaty, and your heart beat race like never before.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to this so called hand piece of the dentist. Air abrasion is one of the newest methods of cleaning out tooth decay. One of the advantages of air abrasion is that you do not hear any noise and you do not feel any vibrations. Air abrasion works like a small sandblaster. The compressed air and the abrasive powder will wear decay off your teeth.
Those who are afraid of needles can also be happy. For the shallower cavities, you may not need anaesthesia although the air and the abrasive powder can cause your teeth to become sensitive. The procedure is simple and quick. If a small cavity is found during a check-up, the dentist will be able to fill it up in about ten minutes using air abrasion.
Air abrasion works for many types of decay although it can not be used for everything. For example, air abrasion can not be used for deep fillings, veneers, crowns, inlays, and onlays. With regards to fillings, only composite resin fillings can be used because they will adhere to the smooth surface created by air abrasion. The silver amalgam fillings require accurate cuts made by a drill so air abrasion is already out of the question.
An air abrasion machine is made up of an air compressor and a tank of abrasive aluminium oxide particles. The particles come in two sizes and they are at twenty seven microns and at fifty microns. There are a thousand microns in a millimetre and about twenty five thousand microns in an inch.
The compressed air and the particles come out through a nozzle and wear away the decay. Your dentist can control the size of the nozzle opening, which size particle is being used, and the air pressure.
There are some precautions to keep in mind when using air abrasion. If you receive air abrasion, your dental team will use a rubber dam or a protective resin to keep the particles from wearing down the other teeth. Your dentist will also put a protective resin on your gums.
You and your dental team must wear protective eyewear. The dental assistant will suction your mouth constantly so that the particles are removed. There will also be a funny taste in your mouth because of the particles.
Not all dentists have air abrasion. In fact, most dentists haven't even bought the equipment. Moreover, the technique isn't even taught in most dental schools. Dentists still have to go through training in order to learn about air abrasion. They will start with simple cases and move on to the more complicated ones as they gain more experience.