Jan 31, 2009 12:00 pm US/Central
New Procedure Eliminates The Pain Of A Root Canal
DALLAS (CBS) ―
Before Marion Rooney arrived for her root canal, she was a little nervous.
"I had large abscess, and I was in a lot of pain," she said. "I've had route canals, and they've always been painful."
But Doctor Kirk Hampton of Dallas isn't using drills to clean her abscessed tooth, and he's not using any Novocain.
He's using a laser called the Waterlase M. D. It combines laser light and water to remove bacteria from the tooth, reports CBS station KTVT-TV in Dallas.
"This tends to be a lot more comfortable for the patients," said Dr. Kirk Hampton. "They don't feel the vibrations. They feel a little bit of water."
A standard root canal using drills has a 10-15 percent failure rate. With the laser, the success rate is much higher.
"It cleans all the bacteria. It sterilizes the inside of the tooth and allows us to do a much better job of killing the bacteria in the tooth," he said.
Laser treatments are covered by insurance just like a typical root canal, and the procedure can be done in one visit instead of two.
"It usually takes anywhere from about two and a half to three minutes to clean each one of the canals out," he said.
Rooney says she'll never go back to the old way now that's she experienced a pain free root canal. "It's the first time I've ever been to the dentist without pain," she said.
Research published in the Journal of the American Dental Association shows laser technology is effective in removing bacteria from infected teeth.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments