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Tooth Lasers Could Make Drilling A Thing Of The Past

gizmodo.com — For some people, just the sound of a dental drill is enough to cause panic —but the good news is that this barbaric procedure may be a thing of the past.

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  • alapoet, on 07/21/2008, -13/+42I, for one, welcome our new laser overlords.
    • passedoutghost, on 07/22/2008, -1/+0We call them evil scientists here.
  • sgun, on 07/21/2008, -3/+22If you are one of the luck few who have decent dental insurance that is.
    • santaliqueur, on 07/21/2008, -0/+6You make it sound like only 5% of people have it.
    • WindReaver, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2Decent dental insurance? You mean $1000 per year? Yeah, *that's* useful.
    • Coolmatt49, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4Dental plan!
  • LongShlong, on 07/21/2008, -9/+2Even though this only has 2 comments and 94 Diggs, I'm still somehow glad it made it to the front page.
  • 3toe, on 07/21/2008, -0/+28Anything that makes the dentist more bearable I am for.
    • naner, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Yeah, instead of a high pitched whine, you'll hear a nice high-voltage BZZZZZZZZZZZZ
  • umbriago, on 07/21/2008, -8/+3It's still gonna hurt. It wouldn't be a trip to the dentist if it didn't hurt.

    Also, I for one welcome our beat to death fourteen year old catchphrases.
  • Typhoon2009, on 07/21/2008, -9/+2God I hate dentistry. I had a check-up today. Luckily, my teeth were so clean that they had NOTHING to bitch at me about, just the usual lecture on how to floss. I'm torn between what's worse: the metal scraping thing they use on your teeth (how does that NOT hurt the enamel?) and the high-speed polisher (which makes that evil high-pitched sound and feels funny). And then later today, I had to go to the eye doctor where they put eye drops on me that stung, and they had to put something on my eye to measure the thickness of my cornea.
    • mrgermy, on 07/21/2008, -0/+12No prostate exam? Dude, you should of just gone all out!
    • williamolympus, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Enamel is the hardest material in your body, and the instruments you described won't even put a dent in them.

      If they had to use those and tell you how to floss, your teeth couldn't have been as squeaky-clean as you thought, buddy.
      • thumperings, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2 You need to get a grip seriously. You have no idea how good we have it.. Ever see Castaway? Yea that sort of dental pain was common for the average person ALL THE TIME just a few short years ago. Hell even prior to 1960 or so If your appendix burst you DIED period . Not some died ALL DIED. God damn I'd hate to see how you'd deal with a real hardship. My friend just burned to death in a house fire 2 days ago a few towns away. You don't know how good you got it. The modern dentist is a privilege people would beg and plead for If they knew how things were even a generation ago. Must less surgery! Amputations very recently were done with no anesthesia ! saw* saw saw saw.. Ello' there; pardon me sir that stings a bit,, the hack sawing of my leg and all.
  • dmark77, on 07/21/2008, -2/+50Thats all I need - Dentists with freakin laser beams.
  • diggB, on 07/21/2008, -3/+10So, how are they gonna fit the shark in your mouth?
  • Blogadict, on 07/21/2008, -20/+0New Social Network - www.blogadict.com
  • ellenmc, on 07/21/2008, -2/+3For anyone who has got tinnitus from the noise of those dentist drills this is great news!
  • simplistics06, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2I have to go to the dentist tomorrow :(
  • Stormwern, on 07/21/2008, -2/+4I have one reservation.. If it can cut teeth, what would it do to my brains if I sneeze?
  • whamdanglers, on 07/21/2008, -3/+66Wait, wait, wait... Back the train up a minute.

    The next big advancement in dental surgery comes from the UK?!
    • MASTERPL, on 07/21/2008, -1/+13Bashing on Brit smiles will never get old.
    • mrgermy, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5What they don't tell you is they are American born Russian scientists living in the UK.

      I don't know if that makes for better teeth or not.
    • ChileanGoD, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5You know what they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
    • teh_techie, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1It has nothing to do with Dental surgery... this simply helps detect cavities.
    • hiro, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1You're living in the past, the days of poor teeth in the UK are as far away as the myth that Americans are all obese with hygiene issues...

      ...ah.
  • kalvinb, on 07/21/2008, -0/+10This device detects decay. It doesn't replace the drill which will still be needed if you don't do something to stop the decay.

    I find the application of the numbing drug is more painful than the actual proceedure of getting a filling.
    • GT35R, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1I am not a big fan of the lidocaine either. If I have an minor cavitiy I ask my dentist to skip the anesthetic. Save me the discomfort of having a numb face for 3hrs.
    • centran, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1I hate the numbing drug. I had a dentist miss or not give enough and he had to give it again. argghh!
      When one of my fillings feel out, the dentist said he didn't feel I would need it because he didn't have to drill "that much". I look at him horrified but said "um, OK". and you know what... it didn't hurt that much.
    • haikuFU, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0My dentist already has a laser device which detects teeth that are going to get a cavity but don't yet have one. He also has a laser drill. How old is this article? I'm in the US, in MN.
  • justiceape, on 07/21/2008, -1/+16Buried for misleading headline. The laser doesn't cut teeth. It's just a diagnostic.
    • williamolympus, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1That's not entirely true. While some lasers are used to aid in diagnosing caries (infected tooth structure), others actually do heat up the infected areas that have a higher water content than healthy tooth structure. This process precisely blasts away the caries, and creates an ideal surface for composite (tooth-colored) restorations. It's pretty cool.
      • Ravatar, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3You didn't read the article. This is a diagnostic laser.
  • digitaldivinci, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2Dugg for just having a temporary crown placed today not even 5 hours ago.

    The smell of burning teeth is enough to make a person choke.
  • jcastillo81, on 07/21/2008, -0/+12Hell yah! I want tooth lasers! No more chewing for me, just reduce my food to mush with lasers and let it slide right down my gullet. *reads beyond headline*
    Dammit.
    • jgzman, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I was kind of hoping for this myself.
  • iJessicaRabbit, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4To be effective you'd have to come in regularly. Most people's insurance pays twice a year for checkups (every 6 months) and my guess is that the price of this scan would be very steep.

    Right now bitewings (what most people get every other check up, so once a year) are around 80 and full mouth x-rays (real detailed, and what people get every 5 years) are around 160. Insurance companies, having policies and benefits from the stone age, probably won't cover this technology well at all :( My guess is that they would stick it in the 5 year category of preventative imaging just to save money on their end.

    My unfortunate guess is that the price of being current with these scans might come close to offsetting the benefit of if you just had a regular check up every 6 months. If you have a small cavity there are laser techniques out there that wouldn't require a drill or to be numb to remove anyways.

    ... still, the technology is pretty cool :)
  • sjohnson0881, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1not a moment too soon!
  • borez, on 07/21/2008, -3/+4There are coatings which can be applied to teeth to stop decay altogether but they're being withheld from the marketplace to keep dentists in their jobs.
    • iJessicaRabbit, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5Source? I haven't heard of this.

      There is also chocolate out there that costs a fortune that prevent cavities... but it's being withheld from the marketplace becuase the creates/sellers are money hungry assholes.
      • borez, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1And I take it, if you haven't heard of it... then it doesn't exist.

        Google... it's your friend.
      • neko6, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1If you're claiming everyone is wrong and you're right, you'll have to be the one who befriends Google.
    • mrgermy, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2There's also this new chewing gum they invented and it's flavor lasts longer than ordinary gum but its being withheld from the marketplace to. . . .oh, wait. . .
  • zosoIV, on 07/21/2008, -1/+6Drilling could be a thing of that past...
    ...too bad we will all be dead by the time this is properly implemented.
    • iJessicaRabbit, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1... but it is being implemented. You can have cavities removed without the use of a drill. The cavity has to be small enough, but the drill isn't used to remove the cavity like it used to be.
  • perlogik, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2This advancement will being us one step closer to the dream of shark dentist.
    Because who knows teeth better than a shark. And of course; shark + laser beams= awesome!
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4All it will take is one accidental power surge to create our first laser-tooth based super hero (or super villain).
  • xero69, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1For a moment I thought the title was "tooth lasers make chewing a thing of the past". Now THAT would be a helluva invention. I'm openin' mah my mowth firing mah lazerz!
  • f4nt0m4s, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Does this relate to having a cavity removed using a laser? I have two permanent baby teeth that always have problems with plaque and nasty build up, and I had a mild cavity removed from the top of one of them. My dentist used some sort of laser, he started it off on a gentle setting so that the laser numbed my tooth, and then he increased the intensity to remove the cavity. It was pretty cool and it didn't hurt that much.
  • st0ney, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5Lasers of all types have been in Dentistry for a long time. There are soft tissue lasers for gum recontouring and lesion removal. Hard tissue lasers for removing tooth decay and coronal bone recontouring. There are also diagnostic lasers (such as the one from this article) are are used to detect tooth decay.

    These are very accurate and can detect things very early on. The hardest part about it is convincing the patient about how accurate they are. The traditional way to detect cavities, x-rays, mirror and explorer, can only detect cavities of a certain size. So when a patient comes in and has 3-4 cavities sometimes they think that I'm just trying to squeeze there money out of them. My approach is that I inform the patient of pros and cons. Some choose to get the fillings done others want to wait till they hurt (which is crazy if you ask me), others simply refuse. My favorite being the guy who refuses, calls me an ***** then calls me at 3am on a Saturday because his tooth hurts.

    The laser in the article is of the diagnostic kind and in no way replaces a drill or hard tissue laser. The decay has to be removed somehow.
  • chesss, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1I don't get it. I am 23 , I hardly ever brush my teeth(once a week) and I have never ever got any dental problems or tooth pain. I eat a lot of Funnel Seeds though...
    • st0ney, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Ok that is just gross
    • neko6, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Dental issues are 80%-90% genetic.

      But its still gross.
      • WindReaver, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1or growing up with a doctor that handed out free samples of the latest antibiotics every time you got a cold, flu, sniffle, bruise, or cut your hair....
  • jrohdedds, on 07/21/2008, -0/+8Being a dentist, its kind of interesting reading some of these comments.
    1) There is no coating that can prevent decay other than sealants (fills in grooves on biting surface). And sorry, you still have to floss. No conspiracy theories here.
    2) Demand more from your dentist. If he/she is a jerk, or hurts you... find someone else.
    3) They do actually have lasers that "drill" on teeth. They cant take out old fillings, or cut teeth for crowns. And yes, the headline was misleading...
    • st0ney, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5Totally agree. Good to see other dentists on Digg.
    • neko6, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Being human, it still hurts reading some of these comments. On any Digg article actually.
  • leerayIG88, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Aw..What about Dr.Giggles? How will he kill?
  • OneRottenTomato, on 07/21/2008, -1/+0I'm still waiting for the incessant bitching to be a thing of the past. When my car is a thousand miles beyond it's recommended oil change, my mechanic doesn't bitch me out on how it needs to be changed between 3 to 4k miles. They just shut up and do the work. We all KNOW we need to floss or brush twice a day or after every meal. Just do the damn job and quit giving us a guilt trip!
    • st0ney, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1If your dentist or hygienist bitches you out go find someone else. There are plenty of other dentists out there that will fit your needs better.
    • Terr01, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1If you had the guts to say it to them directly I don't think you'd still have that problem.

      Finding another dentist, perhaps...
  • captaingrapes, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0Misleading headline. There are several products available which do this already, and lasers which cut soft tissue and tooth structure. All this thing does is spot decay at early stages where remineralization is more easily achieved.
  • sfour, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2The only thing I love more than the sound of teeth being drilled, is the the smell of teeth burning.
  • swizzlestick, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8590533394 ...
  • DeViLbOi, on 07/21/2008, -1/+0My dentist actually uses a laser for some things and has for a while. I have to admit that it is a different feeling. I had not seen a dentist for like 15 years and the cleaning he did with the laser saved me a ton of money and pain. I was back to eating normal foods in 3 days and he said it would be at least a week if I had it done with normal drills. In three one hour visits he completed the same amount of work that would have taken 15 - 20 hours the old way. If you have the option of going this route...take it. From cleanings to decay detection...it is soo much easier and hasn't cost me anything extra.
  • wassim2k, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1This information is 3-5 years old.
    • digiframes, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Well I guess I'm 3-5 years late b/c this is news to me.
  • borez, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1I didn't say that, and the reason you haven't heard of it is because it's not on the market.
  • dracostimpy, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1Okay this is like 4 stories today that really don't say much about Heath Ledger, so I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with you people. Don't you have any respect for the dead, especially when they're starring in an epic role in an epic movie that's smashing all the records? Tooth lasers, people? He's friggin DEAD ya know. I just don't get it...
  • samyoungguitar, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1OH PLEASE!!!! I hate the dentist!!! Make it not hurt!!
  • kennu, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1My dentist (here in Finland) has used lasers for many years now. I find it much more comfortable than plain old drilling, even though you can't use the laser for everything. I only wish more dentists would learn and invest into this stuff.
  • Wombat64, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0Two weeks ago my dentist (in USA) used a laser to take care of a cavity I had. It was great leaving the office without my lip dragging on the floor or drooling on myself. No pain, no shots, no numbness. It's still an uncomfortable experience. Water is sprayed into your mouth the whole time. You have a laser, a water suction device, a water sprayer, a bigger rubber block (to keep your mouth open), and anywhere from two to four hands in your mouth at once. And near the end I swear I could smell smoke - I guess that's what the water is for - keeps the fire at a minimum. But overall I found it better than the old method. Actually there were two lasers. One was used to measure the size of the cavity and the other was used for the actual "drilling".
    • DeViLbOi, on 07/23/2008, -0/+0And that damn smell took forever to go away. My dentist warned me that I might smell some burning flesh because of where he was working etc. He didn't warn me of the black lip I would have from being burned though. I would do it all over again.
  • idiggitall, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Laser teeth? I've been looking for a way to eat food without chewing...this is great news!!
  • centran, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1What I want to see is some kind of genetic therapy that reprograms your body to regrow your adult teeth. That would be awesome. We would be like sharks. "ah damn! a cavity? oh well, I will just grow another set of teeth"
    and no, I am not talking about injecting us with shark DNA but someone using what we naturally do when we are kids.
    • KaJuN4, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Great idea but the bible bashers would never allow it just like stem cell research.
  • macinit1138, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Extra-terrestrial approved!
  • petebert, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1my dentist is actually a shark with a laser drill on his forehead
  • HearWa, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0I was at the University of Toronto's laser lab the weekend before last and they were showcasing just this technology. Another one of the huge advantages of this technology is you are limited to the number of x-rays you get per year, but this method could be used every time you visit. Also like the article mentioned, it's much more effective. I find it odd that UofT isn't mentioned as the projects sound too similar to be a coincidence.

    And to those saying that this laser will cut teeth, this is purely non-destructive laser technology. "This method would make it possible to detect damage much faster than X-rays, nipping the problem in the bud before drilling is necessary." RTFA people, it's not like it's twenty pages long or something.
  • sailormoonbeam, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1um. lasers to replace drills are not new news. a dentist i've seen in michigan uses lasers in place of drills. i've had 6 fillings done with the laser with no need for numbing because the laser method causes no pain (and, no, i have a very low tolerance for pain so it's not just me). the website for the dentist i saw is: http://mcald.com/ and specifically http://mcald.com/LaserDentistry.aspx for the laser section of the website.

    there's also the academy of laser dentistry at http://www.laserdentistry.org/

    so check it out if u don't like pain!
  • Wrigleyette, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1These people honestly think we're going to trust them about Dental hygiene? HAS ANY ONE LOOKED AT THEIR TEETH LATELY? America is totally more advanced in the dental field then over seas.. But, why didn't WE think of this first?

    Hmmmm... *taps finger on lips*
    • st0ney, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1We may be more advanced in the dental field but we will never be rid of cavities as long as High Fructose Corn Syrup is around. That is the worst stuff ever.

      BTW, most of the new technology in dentistry is coming from Sweden, Germany, and other western European countries.
  • basawyer, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0I had my first cavity a few years ago and had a painless procedure for filling it. I remember them using lasers and then blasting me with some powder afterwards. Not sure if this is similar.
  • curiousgrge, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0I see a Little Shop of Horrors remake in the near future. Imagine Orin Scrivello using one of those and slicing people up like in Logan's Run!
  • grneye53, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Just Great ! Now that my teeth are a thing of the past!
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