The waterlaser lets me do 95% of fillings, gum surgery, and root canals with no shot.  It is the laser dentists have been waiting on since lasers were invented.  This technology is revolutionizing dentistry.  The law against dentists claiming to be painless is having to be reviewed because of this technology!  Clearly, in almost all cases pain associated with the dentist’s office is almost entirely a choice, which the patient makes.  People can come in for regular routine dental care without pain, or wait until they are hurting already, and force the dentist into having to perform the usual procedures which have been associated with pain in a dental office…extractions, and the like.

The heart of the machine is a large crystal made of a special material, which takes two full years to grow under laboratory conditions.  This is made to “lase” at its specific wavelength and the energy travels down a fiber optic cable to what looks like a conventional dental hand piece.  On the hand piece instead of a metal bit is a crystal cylinder the same shape as the drill bit has always been.  The laser energy comes out the end of this crystal and is directed onto your tooth by the dentist.   On hard tissue the sound you hear is a subdued “popping” like pop corn.  This the stream of water breaking the sound barrier for a quarter of an inch!  The specific kind of laser in the waterlaser activates water molecules primarily.

Depending on the task at hand either a stream of water is energized to remove hard tooth structure, or the laser light is used to remove infected gum tissue.  In both cases the laser energy “short circuits” the pain receptors before they can fire.  You don’t feel them. 

Some people from time to time feel a little tingling, or jangling sensation.  But they almost never describe it as pain.

Some dentists, me included have used air abrasion to remove “more than shallow” decay.  If the decay has any depth to it at all the air abrasion still hurts!  I tried this for three years, and have abandoned this technique for all but the shallowest decay. 

In addition to the above, the laser can immediately desensitize apthous ulcers, and fever blisters.  Painlessly killing the germs and promoting fast healing of these scourges. 

Sensitive teeth which have no decay can be similarly treated with immediate results.  Pain in these teeth immediately goes from a “10 down to a 2” in the words of patients.   And it further improves in the next few days.  This treatment can last for several years.  It only takes a few minutes.  Until now we had to rely on sensodyne tooth paste to slowly treat this problem. 

Dentists are learning how to take out silver fillings without a shot with the help of the waterlaser, and some are doing crowns with no shot.  I am very proud to be able to bring this technology to Conway.  This is a thrilling time to be a dentist!