Plasma Needle to Replace Dentist's Drill 169
dylanduck writes "From the New Scientist Tech article: "Sticking a needle with a flaming plasma tip into your mouth may not at first strike you as much of an improvement on conventional dentistry. However, the plasma needle, which is cold and painless to the touch, could be just the panacea we have been waiting for.""
Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:2)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:2)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:2)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:1)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:2)
Re:Isn't "Panacea" derogatory? (Score:3, Funny)
Article is more than dentistry... (Score:5, Informative)
S
Old Dominion University invented it first: (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/IA/university_news
and an image: http://media.hamptonroads.com/images/news/plasmape ncilbig.jpg [hamptonroads.com]
Old Dominion had this a while ago, and I believe that it was slashdotted too.
Re:Article is more than dentistry... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Article is more than dentistry... (Score:2)
Maybe a little better..... (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, I don't plan on having any more cavities, so...
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Drilling doesn't hit any nerves. As I understand it, the heat caused by drilling is what triggers pain receptors in the pulp. If you want to say that this heat is due to "vibrations" rather than "the actual drilling" (whatever that means), then fine. Either way, if this "plasma needle" doesn't heat up the tooth, it should be painless, which is the
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:2)
WTF? You put something thats hard and vibrates on your teeth and tell me it doesn't hurt.
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:3, Funny)
And if you can't find such an object, I'm such a GNAA troll can help you out...
*rimshot*
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:5, Funny)
I do. I plan on having like 80 cavities before they just rip out my teeth and put in dentures.
"Go easy on the soda", fark you Mr. Dentist man. You go easy on controlling my life.
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:2)
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:2)
On a positive note, I've got so much porcelain in my mouth
BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
Re:BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
Re:BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
the dentist then proceeds to thoroughly wash the hole that he/she just drilled with ICE COLD water.
Doctors are seriously blind to patient comfort.
Um, maybe you just go to the wrong doctors? Dentists that end up sticking a drill into your gums? Do you get your dental work done at a bombed-out basement in Beirut?
Re:BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
Beirut?!?! No, the last time my dentist sawed into my gums was when I had a tooth capped and the guy had to drill down below the level of the flesh surrounding the tooth. Apparently it is quite hard to keep the drill from slipping during such a procedure the same goes for removal of the rearmost molars which I also had to have done since they had insufficient room to grow out of the jaw bone and the pressure was about to cause the teeth in
Re:BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
Re:BRRRRRRRR! (Score:2)
I'm a dentist...so I thought I could help. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm a dentist...so I thought I could help. (Score:2)
I wonder what would happen if plasma was used to remove or clean up an amalgum filling. Might I expect the release of mercury vapour?
Why is it that in the 21st century, lead for solder is being legislated against and yet dental surgeries insist on using mercury for fillings. I don't understand.
Why are implants made with metal screws being drilled in to the jawbone? What happens if a tooth is punched out? Coul
Re:I'm a dentist...so I thought I could help. (Score:2)
Thanks for your excellent reply.
Regards
Re:I'm a dentist...so I thought I could help. (Score:2)
I expect biological implants to be trialed at some point in the next few decades. Here I'm refering to teeth propagated from the patients own DNA then implanted. This would seem a lot more expensive and complicated than non-bio implants though.
Cheers.
Re:I'm a dentist...so I thought I could help. (Score:3, Informative)
At the moment, the plasma side of the story is fairly wel
Thought of general anesthetic dentistry? (Score:2)
I haven't been to the dentist in about 7 years, not because it hurts, but because I got sick and tired of being insulted by the dentist and his hourly-wage employees about the state of my oral health. Its bad? OK, so fix it. That's what you're being *paid* for. I don't want or need to be scolded or insulted because I haven't turned flossing into my life's work.
I actually do floss (although with a frequency that wouldn't meet any dental standards) and brush twice daily. I'm sure my mouth is a tra
Re:Maybe a little better..... (Score:2)
See, I told you that Mayhem178 was a dirty slut!
Incomplete Summary (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:5, Interesting)
2NO + O2 = 2NO2
It's been a while since chemistry, but I think that's right.
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2)
It's too bad they can't make nitrous oxide out of it. THAT could get fun.
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2, Informative)
There is no actual needle being used here, you are forcing high frequency voltage down a piece of tungsten ( the positive ) and it is bridging a small gap to a negtively charged ring clip. this then ionises the air around the arc, then you use a high pressure gas to blow the ionised air down a guidance tube and out of the guidance tip. the "needle" they refer to is the tiny plasma point that comes
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:2)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Incomplete Summary (Score:3, Funny)
Jesus Christ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Jesus Christ... (Score:2)
Hasta la Vista (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of how the hardware industry works these days. To reduce costs, any microprocessing is offloaded to device drivers via USB, and the system implementation is universally on Windows. Expect to hear the XP ditty playing in the background as your dentists tells you to open wide and begins discussing the price.
Re:Hasta la Vista (Score:2)
Mmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Mmm... (Score:2, Funny)
Yummm, hamburger! And its July 4th tomorrow
slashdot poll material.... (Score:2)
"Last tool that came near your mouth?"
[ ] Electro-Cautery
[ ] Mechanical Drill
[ ] CowboyNeal
Fear... (Score:5, Insightful)
Root-canal and other invasive surgery notwithstanding (and I'm going through a lot of that right now, thank you very much), if this technology can allow minor surgery - fillings, mainly - to be undertaken without needles, I daresay it'll be a brilliant breakthrough. If the patient feels confident they are not going to feel pain, they won't be (as) afraid.
That being said, my latest dentist is a sodding genius, who managed to perform a re-root-treatment without anaesthetic, and without pain, within an hour.
Re:Fear... (Score:2)
I recently had some weird issue and my dad (a dentist) used a laser instead of a drill. While you still need topical or local anaesthetic, there is no vibration or high pitched screeches - just a fast clicking noise. Another plus is you can have gum burnt away with a laser instead of watching a scalpel go into your mouth (and the pain afterward of waiting for cuts to heal).
Apparently for many
Re:Fear... (Score:2)
That's despite the fact that I once had to endure a dentist setting 6 shots in my front gums because the first 5 had no noticeable effect. With an added break halfway through because she had to switch to another type to avoid risk of overdose...
I have one question: (Score:3, Funny)
*turns on plasma needle*
Is... it... safe?
Yes, it's totally safe, with one caveat.. (Score:3, Funny)
Obligatory Family Guy Joke (Score:2)
Luke: "Really? Cause I was just gonna.."
Obi-wan: "Use..use the force. Just use the force."
Luke: "Well alright."
Lady sitting in chair with lightsaber sticking through her head: "AAAAAHHHHH!"
A flaming plasma tip into your mouth (Score:2)
Sounds like it's time for a new hi-tech remake of the Marathon Man [imdb.com] (1977).
Most important question: (Score:4, Interesting)
That is most likely the number one most feared sound in America. Not a police siren. Not a gun shot. Not a cry of pain. The dentist's drill.
As a kid, there was nothing like that sound to make me remember to brush my teeth (well, for a few days, at least.)
Even as an adult, the sound makes me cringe whenever I go to the dentist (which, granted, hasn't been for a few years
Re:Most important question: (Score:2, Funny)
God I hate going to the dentist...and I think I'm about due for another check-up.*sigh*
Re:Most important question: (Score:2)
For instance, I'm sure that there are a lot of people in war-torn countries in Africa who would much rather hear a dentist's drill than the crunching sound of a tank.
Dental Sandblasting (Score:3, Interesting)
Only took a brief moment and was quite painless. Sitting in the chair for 10 minutes prior listening to the machine run a pump to keep the pressure level was the worst part. It ran in cycles of air compressor running, then listening to air "leaking" out, then running again.
I think that could replace water torture if used for an extended period.
Re:Dental Sandblasting (Score:2)
I asked my dentist about his compressor once.
He keeps it in the basement (the office is in what used to be a 1-story home) and it pressurizes a large dump tank. Everything gets connected to this tank (through a regulator) so that there's never any kinds of wonky pressure fluctuations.
I'
Re:Dental Sandblasting (Score:2)
The cure is not putting off dental care (Score:4, Informative)
One of them got to a point where she couldnt eat properly, and was FORCED to goto the dentist.
I don't know what was worse, the pain she experienced from remediation work required, or the dental bill - (around AUS $18,000).
Major reconstructive surgery could of been avoided if she went when her problems first arose.
So heres a lesson kids - when you need to go, GO!
Re:The cure is not putting off dental care (Score:2)
Re:The cure is not putting off dental care (Score:2)
I've never had a proper fear of dentists, but it certainly hasn't been high on my lists of things to do. Usually
Re:The cure is not putting off dental care (Score:2)
Re:The cure is not putting off dental care (Score:2)
Good Dentist/Bad Hygienist routine (Score:2)
I don't care what they claim. (Score:4, Funny)
It's the DENTIST.
It's a NEEDLE.
It's not normal to have needles stuck into your MOUTH.
Therefore... it's still going to friggin' HURT.
Re:I don't care what they claim. (Score:2)
Years later, I had a little dental work done and this time I opened my eyes just as the needle was coming out, also not havin
Re:I don't care what they claim. (Score:2)
Re:I don't care what they claim. (Score:2)
These days there's no excuse for it to hurt or be unpleasant. I used to go to a dentist that would give me nitrous oxide ("happy gas" - expensive, but worth it for more extensive dental work), dark glasses and headphones in addition to painkillers. The nitrous oxide made me care absolutely no
Re:I don't care what they claim. (Score:2)
I had an infection in my tonsils... bacterial, who knows where from, which swelled them up until I couldn't eat and had to breathe through my nose.
The solution to this problem was to lance it with a needle and then take anti-biotics, since the prescription I tried first didn't do a damn thing.
This wasn't a single prick... this was 10 to 15 jabs straight into the back of my throat with a very long needle, first with anaesthetics to numb the areas, probably 4-5 of those... then a bunch of 'sti
key factor (Score:4, Funny)
Why am I skeptical? (Score:2)
Re:Why am I skeptical? (Score:2)
Earthworm Jim (Score:2)
At press time, Earthworm Jim [wikipedia.org] was unavailable for comment.
If you have bad teeth... (Score:2)
Quote from the inventor (Score:2)
Everything went downhill from there...
Ugh! (Score:2)
Will it be a young woman recently having left studies to a dentist (= good, and not just for possibly her looks), or an old cold hearted, careless person. And I'm not sure if a careless user of a plasma needle sounds much more comfortable! O_o
More Info, With Pics (Score:4, Informative)
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/7/11/15/1#need le [physicsweb.org]
Ok, so its not slicing through his fingers but it's a step right.
Better idea. (Score:2, Interesting)
No drills = About damn time... (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry for the story - but it's about damned time we had drill-less drilling/dentistry. And without heat, we're fairly well-set on the way to needing less anesthetics in this field of medical science. GO PLASMA!!!
Only painless to minor cavities (Score:2)
However, if I need a root canal, which I hope I never do, heavy doses
Laser Dentistry, not Plasma Dentistry (Score:2, Informative)
"Painless" Laser Dentistry has been out for some time http://www.biolase.com/waterlase.html [biolase.com] There are many dentists using it to prep cavities, gum surgery, and even root canals (though not up to our conventional standards). No shots are required. Proven technology.
On the other hand, this plasma being researched is in its infancy and seems to only work on killing live cells and bacteria. It doesn't take care of the infected portions of the cavity that has
Laser Dentistry already here? (Score:3, Interesting)
Laser dentistry eliminates many of the common complaints of traditional dentistry. A laser device replaces the rotary tool and can be used for everything from surgery to tooth bleaching. The only addition to the procedure is the requirement of protective glasses to shield the eyes from the laser beam. A laser doesn't make any noise and doesn't require physical contact with your teeth. Water isn't usually needed but air suction is used to keep the treated area cool.
I have read that often anesthesia is not needed since the laser doesn't produce the heat or vibration of the drill. It also avoids micro-fractures that may weaken the tooth down the road.
On that site you can search for dentists in your area.
Re:Laser Dentistry already here? (Score:2)
Not sure this is as good as it seems. (Score:2)
I've been to the dentist many times in my life. Many cavities filled, crowns added et al.
The worst part of the dentist isn't that medical scent in every dentists office, with the faint mix of dried plaque... yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's not even the part about getting poked with a needle here and there. (This shot goes in the roof of your mouth, you might feel a little prick... OK done.)
Aside from the insane bill you get (which, do NOT get me started on this.), the worst experience is afte
Re:Not sure this is as good as it seems. (Score:2)
Great way to insure another unhappy ordeal. As I tell my patients, I'll see you now, or I'll see you later. If its later you know it's going to be more extensive AND expensive.
Its always easier and cheaper to prevent than to fix.
As to your complaint about being numb so long, ask your dentist to use 3% mepivicaine. 3 hours is the longest it will last. If you don't use all the carpule, it can wear off in 1/2
first thought (Score:3, Funny)
OMG (Score:2)
Re:True pain free dentistry (Score:2)
Ask your dentist to try using Benzocaine, Solarcaine, or Lidocaine, or hell, if you're up for it, try out the Xylocaine. Novacaine doesn't work on me, either - in fact most of the stimulant painkillers don't work on me. Solarcaine's the only thing that seems to actually deaden my nerves enough - and that takes a triple shot.