<![CDATA[There are many people with a fear of the dentist. However, even if you're not one of them, here's something you should be afraid of: filling your own cavities. But that's just what the new product Dentidrill invites you to do: fill cavities at home, hopefully not on yourself, but on other family members. This device doesn't have approval from the FDA, and it may not need it. After all, it is just another drill, similar to other drills that have been marketed for years, so it may slip by without any need for approval, possibly not even a "substantial equivalence" test.
So, what are the problems with trying to use an at-home dental drill?
Drilling Too Deep
In drilling out dental cavities, your dentist is constantly aware of how much dental enamel and dentin is likely separating the drill from the tooth nerve. The problems with drilling too deep include:
- • Extreme tooth sensitivity
- • Tooth weakness, leading to cracked tooth
- • Compromising the nerve chamber
Once you have pierced the nerve chamber, not only will your patient experience serious pain (probably more than the meagre lidocaine doses included with the drill can handle), but your patient will now likely need a root canal treatment to protect the tooth a serious infection.
Drilling Too Shallow
On the other hand, if you drill too shallow, you will leave behind damaged tooth material with bacteria inside it. Although you may seal the cavity over these bacteria with a tooth-colored filling, completely depriving them of oxygen and food, they may still grow. Anaerobic bacteria living in our mouth have no need for oxygen, and they can eat whatever they find in the cavity, including some of your tooth material, one another, and whatever particles were trapped with them. Often, this is enough to allow them to grow until they are capable of piercing your nerve chamber on their own, causing a serious infection.
Drill Slipping
A dental drill is a potentially dangerous piece of equipment in an untrained hand. If you’ve ever tried to drill through a hard material like masonry or metal, you know that a drill can slip around before it gains purchase, and when this happens in the mouth, it can either damage teeth unnecessarily or gouge your patient in the gums.
Inhaling Tooth Dust
When the drill is working on your teeth, it creates numerous tiny dust particles that can be inhaled. Although the danger from these is minor, they can still irritate tissues, including your throat and lungs. This is why your dentist keeps your mouth moist and regularly acts to rinse out particles that accumulate in your mouth.
There are many things that you should try yourself. Don’t make fillings one of them. Instead, work with an experienced dentist who can help you get quality, healthy results. Please contact Dental Excellence of Blue Bell in Philadelphia today.]]>
