Patient Benefits of Waterlase and Other Dental Lasers
Dr. David Eshom and his team want you to have the best dental treatments available, so we employ the most technologically advanced tools in modern dentistry to achieve this goal.
If you get jittery at the sound of a dental drill, we have good news for you! The Waterlase dental laser has revolutionized the process of filling a cavity. With this tool, we are pleased to offer a method of correcting mild to moderate tooth decay that’s faster, more accurate, and causes less sensitivity than a drill. Dr. Eshom can now restore your teeth with no jolting vibrations, and less of a need for anesthetic injections.
If you need a dental exam and fillings, contact our San Diego dental office at (858) 455-9151.
How It Works
Most of us will experience tooth decay at some point in our lifetime, and thus require a filling for the cavity. The process is fairly simple and has been the same for decades: the affected tooth is cleaned of decay and bacteria, and the resulting space is filled with silver amalgam or composite resin to recreate the lost portion of the enamel.
Traditionally the tools used to prepare a tooth abrade enamel with a high-powered stainless steel drill. Waterlase is different, because it uses laser technology to create a much smaller cutting tool, so you will feel less activity during tooth preparation. It also uses a combination of air and water to offset the heat generated by the laser, making the process more gentle and precise than ever.
Benefits to Patients
Despite its widespread use in the dental industry, the traditional dental drill is not always kind to your teeth and mouth. The vibrations from the drill can cause swelling and numbness to your soft tissues, as well as small cracks in the enamel of your teeth. The whirring sound of the drill, alone, frequently induces anxiety in patients who have had unpleasant encounters in the past.
Your experience with a Waterlase dental laser, however, will be a pleasant surprise. As a more conservative method of preparing teeth for a filling, it creates no vibration as it works. You may notice a small tapping sound, but you will feel none of the heat or pulsations associated with a drill. With laser precision, the tool will remove decayed tooth matter and bacteria, so Dr. Eshom can complete the restoration with a subtle, tooth-colored composite resin filling.
Another benefit to patients is that Waterlase tooth preparation rarely requires numbing the tooth with an anesthetic injection. You are probably used to leaving the dentist’s office with an unwieldy numbness in your tongue and cheek, since drill-fillings require injections to prevent sensitivity. Waterlase makes that recovery period a thing of the past. The laser is so gentle that you will barely feel anything, as it prepares your tooth for the filling.
Better Tools, Better Treatments
We are so fond of the benefits of laser technology that we have expanded our acumen to include laser tools in diagnostic exams and dental cleanings.
Our DIAGNO dental laser is a diagnostic tool that uses laser light to illuminate teeth, and detect even the smallest of cavities. This allows us to treat minor cavities before they grow. It can even help us identify areas of demineralization, so we can stop tooth decay before a cavity presents.
Another tool we have adopted is the DioLase Plus laser, which assists with routine dental cleaning. The gentle, precise laser is extremely effective at removing plaque, tartar, and bacteria from periodontal tissues that are difficult to keep clean, even with regular brushing and flossing. Our patients are quite fond of the DioLase system, as it eliminates the need to scrape the gums with sharp metal tools.