Caries treatment is often associated with discomfort for the patient, and that’s why many people avoid visits to the dentist, which results in a worsening of the situation and eventually you’re not treating caries, but its complication - pulpitis.
For many years, scientists together with dentists have been developing treatments in dentistry to help avoid such an unpleasant situation. And now there’s a new way to treat tooth decay!
Dentists from an American University in Missouri, have developed a unique device that works by utilizing cold plasma from a plasma torch and with its help dentists will be able to treat caries in the near future.
Scientists have shown that when a plasma beam is directed on a cavity, the number of bacteria causing the disease process is reduced by hundreds of times, and much more quickly cleans the dental tissue affected by caries, which saves both doctor and patient time. After this procedure, the cavity becomes sterile and ready for setting a filling. Another advantage of the plasma cavity treatment is that dental tissue, namely dentin, is chemically modified after the effect of the plasma beam, thereby increasing the quality of the seal with the filling material. This makes it possible to prolong the life of fillings.
Interestingly, after the plasma cavity treatment, there are no side effects, dental tissues are completely retained and the risk of secondary caries is basically non-existent, and most importantly, the procedure is painless.
Complete cavity treatment with cold plasma takes no more than 30 seconds, which allows patients and dentists to save their precious time.
Dr. Stefan Rupf argues that this method is the most harmless for the treatment of caries, because low plasma temperature kills germs while at the same time doesn’t affect the tooth pulp.
The first plasma drill is already in production, marketed by Nanova.
It should be noted that plasma also has some other important properties for medicine, which we shouldn’t forget.
Plasma is formed when a high temperature is applied to a substance and in this process, electrons are freed creating so-called "active oxygen" which is capable of killing bacteria. This kind of method is often used to disinfect surgical instruments.
Modern technologies in dental practice are constantly improving, and although the plasma device is not yet well-known, in the near future we hope to learn about the new features of the plasma torch in dentistry.