With the increasing use of laser technology and PIPS (photon-induced photoacoustic streaming), concerns with dental procedures are being reduced. These technological advances allow a dentist to extend beyond the reach of traditional tools and remove bacteria more thoroughly.
During more complicated procedures, like root canals, patients tend to worry about the sounds and pain that come from having the nerve removed from a tooth, and dentists worry about success rates and unforeseen complications.
Modern technology allows root canals and many other dental procedures to be done with ease.
In Ontario, Dr. Irfaan Salyani recently became the first dentist in the area to use laser technology.
“These procedures can save a lot of teeth that would otherwise need to be extracted,” Salyani said about the use of laser technology.
He also was able to use the laser to fix a frenectomy on his infant daughter.
Salyani has been researching the medical and dental applications of lasers since 1995. The double wavelength technology allows it to work on teeth as well as soft tissue and enables procedures to be done with less bleeding and quicker healing.
With 47.2% of adults over the age of 30 having some sort of periodontal disease, new technology like this is providing benefits to both dentists and patients. Laser technology can also be used in the treatment of mouth issues such as cold sores and abnormalities of the tongue and throat.
Dr. Reid Pullen is another dentist who has found several uses for PIPS, which is a technique that uses Erbium:YAG laser energy to distress the irrigation solution inside a root canal system and cause a shockwave effect that in turn can lyse bacterial cells.
By 2014, Pullen had already used PIPS in more than 2,000 cases. The laser technology has helped remove pulp stones, separate files that became weakened due to ultrasonics, and retreat canal debris. He has shared PIPS-related cases to help others understand the best circumstances to use them.
Only 64% of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 have visited the dentist within the last year. If fear is holding back the other 36%, they can rest assured that new technology in the dental field is designed to be both effective and painless. Laser and PIPS technology is continuing to be used more frequently, and more and more applications are still being discovered.