Shutterstock
While many of us may hate going to the dentist, it’s a necessity of life, but thanks to constant technological improvements in dentistry, getting dental procedures continues to become easier and less painful. Here are some of the latest advances in dentistry making news that you don’t want to miss!
Here’s some good news all of us are glad to hear. Advances in laser technology are eliminating the need to use dental drills, needles or anesthesia for some procedures.
Dentists using laser technology say that anesthesia can be eliminated 96 percent of the time, thus there is no need for needles. Not only that, lasers can be used instead of drills for removing unhealthy tooth structure around cavities.
These FDA-improved carbon dioxide lasers can be used both on hard and soft tissue, and patients experience no pain whatsoever, thus no numbing is required, eliminating needles. Patients say that the sensation is simply like cold water or ice.
While the country is already seeing a rise in diseases due to anti-vaccine myths, the latest scare is one that links root canal dental procedures to cancer and other diseases. The new documentary purporting that root canals cause cancer is titled “Root Cause” and has just been pulled from Netflix.
Dentists and endodontists were quick to call out the documentary and its allegations against the safety of root canals and other dental procedures, saying that the 72-minute film is based on information that has long been debunked.
Not only does the documentary blame root canals for causing cancer, but it also alleges that the dental procedure causes numerous health problems including heart disease and chronic illness.
One of the holistic dentists in the film addresses the camera, asking viewers: “What if I could tell you that 98 percent of women who have breast cancer have a root canal tooth on the same side as their breast cancer?”
Dental professionals respond to that allegation by saying that none of the claims made by the film are based on any valid scientific research, and compare the claims to those made by anti-vaxxers.
It’s not only doctors that prescribe opioids, but dentists and maxillofacial surgeons also prescribe them on a regular basis.
A recent study published in the journal JAMA showed that teenagers can be at risk of developing opioid addictions after dental procedures. According to the study, almost 7 percent of teens and young adults who got first-time opioid prescriptions went on to take more and over 5 percent abused opioids.
Professionals say that there are new non-narcotic drugs that can be used after some dental procedures instead. They also say it is important to begin raising awareness of teen addiction among dental professionals, to make them cognizant of the fact that opioid addiction can start following routine dental procedures. They suggest that using other types of medications can be an important step to keep from adding to an opioid addiction epidemic.
