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Plasma Needle to Replace Dentist's Drill
dylanduck writes "From the New Scientist Tech article: "Sticking a needle with a flaming plasma tip into your mouth may not at first strike you as much of an improvement on conventional dentistry. However, the plasma needle, which is cold and painless to the touch, could be just the panacea we have been waiting for.""
It seems that the other promising uses such as killing cancerous cells, triggering programmed cell death, etc., are described as "surgery without the needle".
S
To me, it seems like the pain involved with getting cavities filled is due to the high frequency vibrations caused by the drill, not the actual drilling itself. While I have my reservations about having a plasma tip stuck into my mouth, I guess I'd be willing to give it a go.
Of course, I don't plan on having any more cavities, so...
"You will pay for your lack of vision..." - Emperor Palpatine to Ray Charles
This "plasma needle" apparently will be good at killing bacteria and surgical cuts. It does use Nitric Oxide to function however, which is poisonous to inhale.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
I was scared to go to the dentist BEFORE they had lightsabers...
Ride the skies
Lets hope the power control software isn't buggy and doesn't run on Windows (okay okay I'm karma whoring now!). I would hate to have my head blown off by a dentist sporting a phased plasma drill in the 40 watt range. Sounds far fetched but Canada's Therac-25 radiation therapy machine zapped some cancer sufferers killing three. I seem to recall there was a similar failure with a laser surgery machine in France which blinded some people but I couldn't find a reference, the French probably covered it up.
It means "miracle cure" which, in the modern age of sarcasm, is probably used more often as an insult.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
The worst part of having my mouth operated on was the taste of burning flesh from the laser's cauterizing sticking around for days. This makes me wonder if something like this plasma needle could forego the one side effect that isn't easily averted with things like painkillers.
do you know squarepusher?
Actually, the thing most people fear about the dentist is needles-in-the-mouth. They're an uncomfortable and sometimes shockingly painful experience (depending on the dentist and the location of the injection), and it's the act of deliberately subjecting yourself to pain that gets a lot of people worked up. All the other fears tend to be associative.
Root-canal and other invasive surgery notwithstanding (and I'm going through a lot of that right now, thank you very much), if this technology can allow minor surgery - fillings, mainly - to be undertaken without needles, I daresay it'll be a brilliant breakthrough. If the patient feels confident they are not going to feel pain, they won't be (as) afraid.
That being said, my latest dentist is a sodding genius, who managed to perform a re-root-treatment without anaesthetic, and without pain, within an hour.
Meta will eat itself
Is it safe?
*turns on plasma needle*
Is... it... safe?
It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
Will it still have that "WHIIIIIRRRRR" sound?
:).
That is most likely the number one most feared sound in America. Not a police siren. Not a gun shot. Not a cry of pain. The dentist's drill.
As a kid, there was nothing like that sound to make me remember to brush my teeth (well, for a few days, at least.)
Even as an adult, the sound makes me cringe whenever I go to the dentist (which, granted, hasn't been for a few years
Except I read it as Pancreas the first few times over.
I recently had a minor cavity "sandblasted" out and filled with no anathesia or shots.
Only took a brief moment and was quite painless. Sitting in the chair for 10 minutes prior listening to the machine run a pump to keep the pressure level was the worst part. It ran in cycles of air compressor running, then listening to air "leaking" out, then running again.
I think that could replace water torture if used for an extended period.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Two close in-laws have had major dental problems, and have avoided it for years, decades even.
One of them got to a point where she couldnt eat properly, and was FORCED to goto the dentist.
I don't know what was worse, the pain she experienced from remediation work required, or the dental bill - (around AUS $18,000).
Major reconstructive surgery could of been avoided if she went when her problems first arose.
So heres a lesson kids - when you need to go, GO!
It's the DENTIST.
It's a NEEDLE.
It's not normal to have needles stuck into your MOUTH.
Therefore... it's still going to friggin' HURT.
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
sure the plasma needle sounds better than the drill *in principle*, but the article fails to mention key factors, namely: what's the reload time and how much ammo can you carry?
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/IA/university_news .nsf/articles/01252006095739AM
s .nsf/articles/09272005090143PM
e ncilbig.jpg
http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/IA/university_new
and an image: http://media.hamptonroads.com/images/news/plasmap
Old Dominion had this a while ago, and I believe that it was slashdotted too.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/7/11/15/1#need le
Ok, so its not slicing through his fingers but it's a step right.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
One of the articles linked above says that the needle only temporarily seperates cells. So wouldn't it be great for microsurgery that heals even better? You could make a "cut" with the plasma needle, and then when you extracted it, the cells would glue back together like nothing happened.
Google: "All your data are belong to us."
My last trip to the dentist involved driling and excising my 3rd right molar from my upper set of teeth. Needles don't bother me (hell I count how many times they have to poke and inject me just to gauge how much of a tolerance I've built up to such anesthetics,) nor does having to suck gas or hearing the whine of the drill. What does bother me, is that my teeth, even when decaying, are rather strong. The drill bit broke in my mouth without the dentist realizing it. She went right on ahead with a broken drill in my mouth to remove my tooth. A week later, while in Texas on vacation, I take a drag off of a cigarette, and something moves around in the cavity where the tooth once existed. A little fishing around with my tongue in the hole, and out comes the broken drillbit. Do you knwo what those things look like under a microscope? Imagine an allen wrench - now grab both ends and twist until it spirals. Sharpen the edges, THEN SERRATE them. That is what these drill bits look like.
Sorry for the story - but it's about damned time we had drill-less drilling/dentistry. And without heat, we're fairly well-set on the way to needing less anesthetics in this field of medical science. GO PLASMA!!!
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I'm a dentist, so I thought I might be able to help out with a couple areas of the discussion. First of all, there's a slight problem with the article. The plasma needle they talk about won't work on a tooth...it's just not possible. The outer layer of your teeth (the enamel) doesn't have any live cells in it (the formative cells die off just before the teeth erupt)...'inducing cell death' doesn't work if there are no live cells present. (The cells that are alive in the tooth are on the outer edge of the pulp, the third layer down, so you have to get through the hard mineralized outer surface first) So this won't replace the drill, but could theoretically replace current electrocautery methods for doing biopsies. With regards to what's causing the pain when you're getting a tooth filled - If you're experiencing pain when you're getting a filling put in, then your dentist hasn't numbed you up properly. Once you get through that outer layer of enamel, you reach the dentin. The dentin has little tubes running through it that go down to the pulp. When the ends of those tubes are opened up and exposed, the fluid in those tubes shifts and triggers nerve endings in the pulp which your brain interprets as pain (slightly simplified explanation). If you've been anesthetised properly, you shouldn't feel any pain. Anything else I can help with? Let me know. If I've talked above or below your head, my apologies...trying to make sure it's 'understandable' to all.
Just don't cross the beams.
"Painless" Laser Dentistry has been out for some time http://www.biolase.com/waterlase.html There are many dentists using it to prep cavities, gum surgery, and even root canals (though not up to our conventional standards). No shots are required. Proven technology.
On the other hand, this plasma being researched is in its infancy and seems to only work on killing live cells and bacteria. It doesn't take care of the infected portions of the cavity that has no live cells/bacteria. Your filling can only adhere to sound tooth structure, so it's a waste of time having fillings falling off. Unproven.
Even with the advantages offerred by laser dentistry, I myself don't consider using laser dentistry any time soon. The problem with laser dentistry is that even though we're supposed to hold the tip of the wand away from the tooth at a specified distance (its focal point, say 1/3 of an inch) for the wand to burn away materials most efficiently, it still burns materials a bit farther away from the focal point. This means I cannot get a smooth finish. IMO laser dentistry is still limited to minor gum surgery. It's not yet primetime for drilling at least for me.
The biggest disadvantage though is that the fine tactile feedback I get from the drill hitting tooth is lost (meaning I cannot gauge how big of a hole I just made). This is the major difference between a dentist and a dental student. If the tactile feedback is lost, dentists are no better than dental students when it comes to drill and fill. So even though I consider myself to be uptodate with today's technologies, new isn't necessarily better. I would only add the electric handpiece (drill) so it wouldn't make that whirrrring noise, and that's it. These new technologies need to improve a lot more. You wouldn't want to be a guinea pig.
By the way, Novacaine hasn't been used since the 70s. Lidocaine is the most common dental anesthetic agent now.
Academy of Laser Dentistry
Laser dentistry eliminates many of the common complaints of traditional dentistry. A laser device replaces the rotary tool and can be used for everything from surgery to tooth bleaching. The only addition to the procedure is the requirement of protective glasses to shield the eyes from the laser beam. A laser doesn't make any noise and doesn't require physical contact with your teeth. Water isn't usually needed but air suction is used to keep the treated area cool.
I have read that often anesthesia is not needed since the laser doesn't produce the heat or vibration of the drill. It also avoids micro-fractures that may weaken the tooth down the road.
On that site you can search for dentists in your area.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
Not in my mouth, please.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
room temperature fourth state of matter?!?!? I'm sure my first thought would be "how can I stick this in my mouth?" too.
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
OMG I want this now! God I can't wait. No more seriously frickin annoying drill sound! I suppose they better have a steady hand when doing this kind of thing though. So much better! I may enjoy the next dentist visit!
"As it stands, man, I won't think about the dentist until tears are falling from my eyes due to pain."
Great way to insure another unhappy ordeal. As I tell my patients, I'll see you now, or I'll see you later. If its later you know it's going to be more extensive AND expensive.
Its always easier and cheaper to prevent than to fix.
As to your complaint about being numb so long, ask your dentist to use 3% mepivicaine. 3 hours is the longest it will last. If you don't use all the carpule, it can wear off in 1/2 hour.
I've never understood the rest of the dentist's fetish with 2% lidocaine. It has to be a fetish - why do they all use it in every case, even a small, simple filling? It can last all day with some people (yes, 5 to 8 hours - but the drug info doesn't say that).
Don't you get me started on that Mt. Dew!
Dentistry would be great if it wasn't for the patients! I've been a practicing dentist for 20+ years, one of these years I'll get it right!
Don't mind me, I have more fun this way!