the future is now
What’ new ins pediat dentis ric try BY J AMES F. MASO N, DD S
“When did going to the dentist become such a cool experience?” These words came from the father of a beautiful 13-year-old girl named Claire who just finished her appointment. When Claire first started coming to the dentist several years ago, she reacted the way most young children do—with some anxiety, some nervousness, and a whole lot of wondering if it would hurt.
“I have seen dentistry, especially pediatric dentistry, change so much over the past few years, and wish it could have been that way for me,” Claire’s father said. “Just the technology alone and the implementation of it to the children’s advantage has made it so much easier to get the kids to want to come back.” Claire and her family are talking about the revolution in pediatric dentistry that has taken place over the past few years across the country. The whole experience of going to the dentist has been changed into a brouhaha of pleasant experiences. Even though in the past 50 years there has been a significant decline in cavities, dental decay continues to be one of the most common ailments in the U.S. Among children and adolescents, having a dental cavity is four to five times more common than having asthma. And because of this prevalence, much research has gone into how to combat this epidemic and help children in the best possible way. Pediatric dentistry is now one of the hottest fields due to the change of culture. Dentophobia (the fear of dentists) is real, but 114
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we are working to change this and believe the current technology is part of the solution. New advances in preventing cavities, as well as how we fix them, has improved pediatric dentistry. Did you know that many cavities, when diagnosed early enough, can be reversible and never have to be drilled? Advances such as silver diamine fluoride (aka black fluoride), remineralization therapy, and lasers have revolutionized dentistry. The Solea® laser allows us to do routine procedures without having to give a “shot” and often without having to use the dental drill. In fact, Claire may never know the drill in her life. Aside from general anxiety, the three things people are afraid of at the dentist are: pain, vibration, and noise. With the Solea laser, you do not have any of those; it pretty much feels like air and a little water blowing on your mouth and teeth. Over 98 percent of fillings can be done without any shots at all. When you don’t develop the fear and anxiety that most people have—when you don’t have the opportunity to become afraid of the drill and the C2 MAGAZINE
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