Slashdot Mirror
Plasma Jets Could Replace Dental Drills
Hugh Pickens writes "The first electric dental drill was patented in 1875; modern drills grind the diseased portions of teeth away at up to 500,000 rpm. But dentists have been seeking less invasive ways of wiping out stubborn, tooth-decaying bacteria. Now Live Science reports that bacteria-killing jets of plasma could soon replace the drills used to treat cavities in our teeth. Researchers recently demonstrated that a small, blowtorch-like device emitting a relatively cool beam of purple plasma could eliminate oral bacteria in cavities, leaving more tooth structure intact than a drill does. To test how well 'cold' plasma jets (about 100F or 38C) sterilize tooth material, researchers took slices of dentin from extracted human molars, doused them with bacteria, and torched them with the plasma jet. An inspection via a scanning electron microscope of the damage done to the germs shows bacterial remnants had holes in their cell walls. When the plasma jet fires, it charges oxygen in the surrounding air, creating highly reactive molecules that can break down the bacteria's defenses. Researchers believe the technique could be available to general dentistry in three to five years."
"Researchers believe the technique could be available to general dentistry in three to five years."
COME ON, guys, my appointment is on the 22nd. Hurry!
o hai
so i just need to manage no cavities for another 5 years. it's been 6 since i saw a dentist. i can do this. come on!
Would this kind of device be useful in the bathroom? Probably not as a replacement for flossing or brushing, but fighting plaque build-ups in places you can't really get?
This can't possibly help dentist suicide rates.
I've always wondered why they haven't developed a hard coating for teeth that would prevent most cavities and why we don't have vaccination against caries and periodontal pathogens.
It often seems like the basics of dentistry have changed little. There are newer materials for crowns and tooth-colored fillings, CNC machines and 3d modeling for crowns, but AFAIK going to the dentist is little different for me now than it was 40 years ago.
I sometimes wonder if advances in preventive dentistry aren't limited by the structure and practice of dentistry itself. Plus, dentists being dentists, they have a built-in interest in high-quality preventive care (high-frequency flossing, rinses, brushing, etc) and thus themselves develop few of the chronic problems that plague the general public and thus don't devote resources to better passive preventive systems/technologies as they believe the ones available are "good enough".
In a way it kind of reminds me of the problems non-technology people have with computers that technology people don't suffer from; these issues don't really get addressed within technology itself very aggressively because to the people who don't have these issues, they aren't considered serious problems or are considered side effects of other problems (general ignorance or lack of intelligence, etc).
Great! If this is a success... I might like going to the dentist :)
Or maybe not..
It could unleash a whole evil dental underworld.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
Do you ever wonder how they think up this stuff. Some researcher is sitting around drinking coffee thinking, "Hey, I wonder what would happen if you blasted a cavity with plasma?" How do you even think of questions like that without being stoned?
Then I started wondering if I'm going to be hearing my dentist going, "Pew! Pew! Pew!"
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
What are the side effects? Irradiating my teeth... sounds dangerous. Great if it works though.
The drill isn't just for killing the bacteria inside cavities (called "caries" by dentists). The drill is used to make an undercut hole large enough to get stuffed with filling material. In doing so, it removes not only the bacteria but also the food-material that the bacteria was growing on. A plasma jet won't do either of those things, so they would still need to use a drill.
http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/dunecdentistopen.jpg
This isn't the only use. I watched an interview with the guy who invented the cool plasma. It can be used to sterilize hands as well. You know the sterilization chamber from Star Trek, the one you enter with your clothes off after coming back from a planet and get eradiated. Well you can do that too with cool plasma.
Make you hate when xkcd is right at something.
You have never had any serious dental work done. There are plenty of hi-tech advancements that didn't even exist 20 years ago.
http://xkcd.com/678/
Where does the grounding clamp attach?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
/. had an article about very similar research about 4 years ago...
it charges oxygen in the surrounding air
. Wait, is oxi-clean.. plasma?
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
Once again, plasma proves its technically superiority over LCD.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
For there was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently.
An inspection via a scanning electron microscope of the damage done to the germs shows bacterial remnants had holes in their cell walls.
I take from that, that it will also put holes it my cells’ walls.
Do. Not. Want!
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
I've had my hands on a prototype.
Bout 2 years ago.
It's kinda a fun thing to do, and most
curiositers can make one at home.
The problem right now is that it requires
tens of liters per minute of air, and 5Kv,
so the physical dimensions are rather large.
This instrument is considered a low energy ion
generator, vs many high energy generators.
( ma vs 100's of amps )
A big ballast is required because the
physics of producing atmosphere plasma at 1 atm
still is not completely understood. It's
difficult to prevent arcing. As a matter
of fact, that's a real reason for getting
continued funding for that research. The "plasma"
pencil can be produced with other physical
constructs of the "gun". This is an
excellent area for some budding physicist to
pursue. Most white papers are about ionization
in vacuum, or using radio frequency excitement.
There are also now ways to generate ions
on microstructures.
The plasm will do things to various
organic structures, but as pointed out will
not remove the decay itself.
The device ionizes the air, but the tip of
the jet is intended to ionize a surface.
A dentist would need no detector. But there
are many other uses where the result would
need to be determined usually with some ion
detector. These are also easy to make.
As a matter of fact, a plasma was considered for
use in the ISS to sterilize interior structures.
To get variants on a theme, use helium, or a
helium/atmosphere mix ( 2% helium). The plasma
mentioned was originally created with 5KV DC
voltages but AC is much more generally preferred
for things like ion cleaning devices, like air
cleaners. As another interesting fact, the
$300 air ionizers use 12KV and the breeze created
is actually generated by the ion generation.
There is no fan.
The plasma ARE cool, and you can stick your hand
right in the purple flame. Lots more info can be
googled.
I recently went after many years, and the dentist found three. I was a little suspicious, and asked the dentist about it. He said yes, due to advanced digital x-rays, cavities are spotted earlier. The more important fact was that he said with newer filling techniques and material, it allows them to fill smaller cavities. The older fillings didn't "take" that well in teeth, and so dentists had to let cavities grow largert, so they could fill them successfully. So the up to date, modern dentist will probably find these "mini-cavities" and fill them before it becomes a giant cavity.
Why do this then? Well one of my older style fillings was in a tooth that was weak, which cracked in half, and I needed a root canal and crown. The newer mini-fillings will keep more of the tooth, preventing problems like that in the future.
..........FULL STOP.
This adds a whole new layer of meaning when your Dentist goes "Whoops!"
Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
A lot of toothpastes made for children are fruit-flavored, and Tom's of Maine (http://www.tomsofmaine.com) makes a few non-minty flavors. Also try your local natural foods store - they probably have some wacky flavors.
it's a global plot by liberterian dentists on God fearing merkins, who just want a perfect smile.
They are waiting for the gene splicers to come up with the correct sequence to allow you to grow more than two sets of teeth. They wont bother filling then, just whisk the offender out.
Think of of all the lovely loot they will make doing new comestic work on that tooth
It's been know since the 1930s:
http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v05n03.shtml
Treatment:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
This may be an especially big problem these days in pediatric dentistry, as kids spend more and more time indoors.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
the dentist is the shark *with fricken lasers!
After all, a full 70% of the top ten mysteries of the mind (according to them) actually had to do with the mind.
In this little missive of theirs they make clear that we've all been mistaken thinking drills were for digging holes into materials like teeth, when all along they were intended for killing germs by digging holes into them.
As for "creating highly reactive molecules that can break down the bacteria's defenses", you can buy a quart bottle of dental drills for a dollar or less. These drills go by the name "hydrogen peroxide".
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
Ahh -that's the kicker.My dentist had a screen right next to the chair showing me where the carries were. Digital x-rays are quite nice, as the images can be blown up to show you where the problem lies. Mine was easy to spot.
I concur - ask to see the images. If you're at all concerned, then get a second opinion. No one is holding you in that chair.
..........FULL STOP.
Nitrous Oxide is a helluva drug.
This cold plasma thing sounds awesome. I love the idea of killing bacteria with freakin' plasma, yet having the death of said bacteria having nothing to do with heat at all.
I'm still worried, however, that operating such a device frequently could cause radiation-related problems to develop over time. Think: if plasma at such low temperatures is capable of causing such a reaction with bacteria, surely it is emitting much more radiation than you would expect.
Keep in mind that blow-torches produce radiation. I don't understand exactly how, but even if the plasma torch is 100 degrees, how can such a thing be safe?
I'm no scientist, but somehow being around a plasma torch for too long sounds potentially risky.
Hey, who wants to stand in front of their microwave's ridiculous little wire mesh radiation shield and count the number of times the little dish rotates with its non-microwave emitting light turned on?
HEY! WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SEE IN THERE!!