First and foremost let me put it out there that the practice of dentistry is a painless venture 99% of the time in our office these days.
It’s so much easier being a painless dentist nowadays, I feel like a spoiled brat dentist compared to what my father had at his disposal when he started practicing dentistry. We have boutique anesthetics that are specially formulated to work on top teeth, ones that are longer lasting and ones that we can inject right around the end of the root of a tooth making it unnecessary to do a more difficult nerve block.
The drills we use are much more silent and faster – shorter appointments.
The filling materials bond to the tooth making for less drilling and more conservative preparations, very often not requiring any anesthetic without the patient feeling anything.
One of my favorites is the lighting and magnification that allows us to see what we are doing better, once again making treatment faster.
Even orthodontics has gotten more patient-friendly. I remember not being able to eat for days at a time when I would get my braces tightened. The process is more gradual with Invisalign and clear-aligner-therapy AND patients don’t need to have those annoying brackets and wires.
Root canals are painlessly getting done in one visit providing relief sooner, rather than weeks of achiness. The super-fast digital X-Rays helped make this possible, sometimes shortening a visit by 20-30 minutes in waiting time alone.
Preventative techniques like fluoride varnishes and rinses help keep people from having problems in the first place. The introduction of Xylitol into more products has helped reduce the amount of sugar people ingest and replaced it with a product that beneficially manipulates to oral environment.
And once again, digital X-Rays help us diagnose cavities earlier and smaller helping us do small-ball dentistry as opposed to major dentistry.
WOW!
Even with all of this going for you there are still lots of people that get toothaches. Here’s a couple helpful things to know to help you out if you get unlucky and uncomfortable.
Studies have found that you are better off taking 2 Advil (ibuprofen) and 2 Tylenol (acetaminophen) than you would be taking a narcotic AND you are not left drowsy and nauseous.
If you’re having a problem with your gums you might be better soaking the area with a strong salt water solution than a rinse. It helps pull the fluids out of the gums, relieving the pressure and has antiseptic properties as well.
Here at Dillon Family Dentistry we are all about practicing painless dentistry!!  If you would like to set up an appointment to see what we are all about please call Joanne today at 610-525-5497.