Tooronga Family Dentistry in Glen Iris

Treating a broken tooth with a large cavity.

When decay spreads in the tooth it weakens its structural integrity and leads to fractures. By this time the decay has penetrated close or reached the nerve which may lead to the tooth becoming sensitive to hot and cold and the person realises that, there is something wrong and comes to see us. When confronted with this condition Dr. Kaufman cleans the diseased decay and bacteria and assesses the condition. In many cases the dental pulp is exposed or visible under a thin layer of dentin.  Previously published professional literature showed that, if the pulp becomes exposed while removing soft infected dentine, the chances are that the pulp will be infected also, and a pulp capping will fail, and recommended to perform a root canal treatment.

Recently, research funded by ClinicalTrials.gov a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health to find better ways to support the infected pulp and allow it to regenerate showed that treatment with a diode laser like we have at our practice provided healing of the pulp and prevented the need to perform a root canal treatment. In the study the researcher compared the conventional way of capping the pulp and the diode 808 nm laser-assisted techniques in direct pulp capping in permanent teeth .This present study was based on a series of ten clinical studies with pulp exposure caused by carious lesions. Since the diode laser has proven effectiveness by its capacity to stimulate reparative dentine formation by pulp cells, de-contamination ability of irradiated areas, its ability in the fast and better haemostatic, and pain reduction it was tried on inflamed teeth and pulps.

The results have shown the success rate was significantly different between the conventional method of  (60 %) and the diode 808-nm, laser-assisted (100 %) groups after one year.  The conclusion was that laser-assisted procedure proved to be more effective than the conventional technique in enhancing the outcomes of pulp-capping therapy in carious exposures.

The significance of the recent discovery is that teeth which previously were destined to need a root canal treatment, a treatment which is more costly and destructive to the tooth, can be treated with the laser to achieve a better outcome.

To benefit from this novel treatment please make an appointment.