A normal visit to the dentist over these many years often involves what most people term “drill and fill”. When I went to the University of Washington Dental School over 34 years ago we were taught the G.V. Black technique of “extension for prevention” and since we were using amalgam or silver filling at the time, we just drilled out all the healthy grooves in the enamel so we wouldn’t have to go back in later and drill the rest out.
Let’s just say it wasn’t a very conservative way of practicing dentistry. When the composites and bonding came to the forefront years later and amalgam placement and use started to decline, we began to be more conservative in our preparations of the teeth because we could seal the grooves with flowable resins and preserve the healthy tooth structure.
In the mid to late 1990’s when I was working for my father in his old dental office, we purchased a state-of-the-art air abrasion unit called the KCP 1000 kinetic cavity preparation unit for over $16,000, pretty expensive at the time. It was the “Mercedes” of air abrasion units and still is, although they stopped making them years ago. It features two warmed brass holders to contain two different sizes of particles, at 50- and 28-micron sizes of aluminum oxide powder. Many of the smaller pit and fissure caries we see can be handled with this unit in a very minimally invasive way, saving healthy enamel and tooth structure and avoiding the dreaded fear of the “shot and drill”.
We only use our electric handpiece after the fact to smooth, polish and adjust the bite. Without exception, all of our patients invariably say it is the least painful and easiest filling they ever had. While some powder gets in the mouth (and all over) and it can all be a bit messy, we use water and suction to lessen the effect, and that is the only disadvantage that I can think of. The sandblasting provides a really good bond for our adhesives and resins, strengthening the bond and providing a long-lasting restoration.
Recently, our unit gave out and I had American Dental AirSonic Technologies in Texas completely refurbish the unit “like new”. We have been using it now for a few weeks and it really is like new, performing flawlessly. We are only one of maybe 100 dental offices in the entire US that have had one of these since they stopped making them years ago, and I had been just scavenging parts to keep it going. Now, it is like brand new and I am practicing minimally invasive dentistry like never before and my patients are very pleased.
At Two Rivers Dentistry, we are also pleased we can offer this very important service to our patients–as it isn’t even offered in 99% of dental offices. If you have any questions about air abrasion and minimally invasive dentistry in Vancouver, Washington, please call our office at 360-256-1202 or send us an email or text from our website at www.tworiversdentistry.com. Dr. Vaughn Teuscher, our dedicated dentist along with the rest of our team is here to help you with all of your dental needs!