Dentists might finally be finished with tooth drilling

New research concerning tooth decay indicates that it occurs slowly enough to be stopped and even reversed, negating the need for tooth drilling treatments and fillings in dental patients. In the past, it was believed that tooth decay occurred so rapidly that they only way to treat it was to remove it with a drill and fill in the resulting cavity.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a new study conducted by Sydney University has made “no-drill dentistry” vastly preferable to the old way. Because treatments for tooth decay involving drills and fillings are so unsavory that many people prefer to avoid treatment entirely, this new dental discovery might benefit those with a serious aversion to going to the dentist.

The study notes that 15 percent of Australians intentionally forego treatment as a result of a phobia about going to the dentist.

Associate Professor Wendell Evans, lead investigator of the study, indicates that a policy of “no-drill dentistry” will allow those with drilling or filling phobias to feel safe enough to allow much needed dental treatment. Not only that, the new research says that the old “fill and drill” approach to dentistry was nowhere near as effective as the more accommodating modern techniques.

“It’s unnecessary for patients to have fillings because they’re not required in many cases of dental decay,” he said. “For example, it takes an average of four to eight years for decay to progress from the tooth’s outer later [enamel] to the inner layer [dentine].”

Because the previous paradigm lead dentists to drilling and filling patients’ tooth decay because they feared it spread too quickly, the study’s revelation that tooth decay progresses very slowly is enough to render such treatments as unnecessary.

“There is plenty of time for the decay to be detected and treated before it becomes a cavity and requites a filling,” Professor Evans said.

The new preventative, “no-drill” method is called the Caries Management system. When tooth decay is detected but has yet to form a hole, the Caries Management System is used to treat the disease without having to ask the patient to undergo the uncomfortable and potentially painful filling process.