A New Kind of Dental Treatment

by J. K. Hackbarth, DDS

During my twenty plus years in dental practice, I have seen quite a few changes in dental materials and techniques, but right now there is a change going on in dentistry that is making the most difference that I have seen.

This change is really a process of reevaluating how we think about the restoration of teeth. New materials and techniques have enabled us to do things which were only dreamed about 20 years ago, but these techniques have at the same time forced us to change how we think and plan and carry out the repair of teeth. The old traditional ways of restoring teeth, while they still work, are being replaced by newer and more conservative ones.

I'm not sure who coined the term for this change, but they have called it "Minimally Invasive Dentistry". This is a really good description of the proper use of state of the art materials and techniques. By using them, we can preserve more of the original tooth structure often eliminating the necessity of crowns on teeth that are badly damaged. Using the 4th and 5th generation adhesives, bonding special resins and porcelain in teeth, we can actually restore a tooth to around 95% of its original strength. This was never possible using silver fillings or crowns.

We can use air abrasive techniques with which many teeth can be filled with no pain and no need for anesthesia. We also have at our disposal dental lasers which can speed many processes of repairing teeth.

But the biggest change is, as I said, in the way we think about and go about repairing teeth. Using these techniques and magnification, we have been able to make tiny repairs of teeth. Using magnifying glasses and intaoral cameras makes it possible to see decay often before it becomes visible in x-rays. We can then repair the defects in teeth before they become large, thereby preserving almost all the natural tooth structure. Big fillings, which often lead to the fracture of teeth and the eventual need for crowns, are then eliminated.

Another plus to this philosophy of treatment is that it creates truly esthetic restorations. The resins and porcelains with which teeth are restored using minimally invasive dental techniques, are the most beautiful we have ever had. They can often fool even the most discriminating dentist until he looks closely during an exam.

The end result of this change in dental techniques and philosophy, along with good hygiene practices, will be the reduction of the amount of restorative care that a person needs during a lifetime. That and our increasing ability to make durable and extremely cosmetic restorations, make me really excited about modern dentistry.

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