When it comes to maintaining your health, it can be difficult for you to find yourself ready and willing to head to your dentist's office. Many people have a somewhat irrational fear of going to the dentist that is largely unfounded and based on the notion that dental technologies and procedures have not changed over the past several decades. However, these fears and concerns are largely unfounded. Dental advances are occurring and developing all the time, just as such advances are occurring in other healthcare fields. Get to know about a few of the most recent and interesting of these advances in dental care that can make trips to the dentist easier for you, your children, and everyone in general.

Avoiding Dental Drilling for Cavities

When an adult or a child goes in to visit the dentist, the last thing they want to hear is that they have cavities. This is because cavities almost inevitably lead to dental drilling and repairs that can be frustrating at the very least (as well as possibly painful and scary, especially for younger children). 

However, dentists have come up with a new and novel way to potentially treat and deal with cavities. This new treatment is the use of a liquid that is known as silver diamine fluoride (S.D.F.). The silver diamine fluoride is an antimicrobial substance, meaning that it will fight and kill bacteria and other microbes in your mouth and teeth that caused the cavity in the first place.

While this treatment option has not officially been approved for cavity fighting purposes, it is an FDA approved teeth desensitizer for adults, and dentists may opt to use it to treat cavities at their discretion. And, it is possible that they will push for FDA approval for the use of silver diamine fluoride to be used for such purposes as more research is published and the substance gains in popularity.

Stem Cell Treatments

The medical field has become inundated with studies and uses of stems cells in healthcare, and the dental field is no exception. One of the possible applications of stem cell technologies is to create biologic and regenerative tooth fillings to help repair teeth and regrow the parts of the teeth that were damaged due to extreme rot or severe infection.

The tooth fillings work to stimulate stem cells in the teeth, which in turn triggers the growth of dentin, which is the hard calcified tissue in the teeth that protects the inner sensitive pulp of the teeth.This dental treatment could radically change the way endodontic care is approached in the dental field, rendering the infamous root canal procedure largely obsolete. If these fillings successfully regrow the pulp and dentin of a tooth that had a previous infection, then there will be no need for invasive therapies like root canals.

Now that you know a few of the advances designed to make trips to the dentist easier, you can be sure that you keep up with the changes in dental care as well as do everything in your power to take good care of your teeth. Contact a dental professional like Kyle J Frisinger DMD to learn more.