Many people associate the high-pitched whirring of a dental drill with pain.
Just the sound alone can make many people wince.
A relatively new technique called air abrasion uses powerful particles of
aluminum oxide to remove debris and decay. The most exciting thing for patients
is that air abrasion is painless and, in some cases, doesn't require an
anesthetic.
Air abrasion leaves behind a gritty feeling in your mouth, which is simply
rinsed away almost instantaneously using a small suction device.
Tiny cracks and imperfections on a tooth can be fixed using air abrasion.
Although air abrasion is not suitable for work on crowns and bridges, it is
often used for bonding procedures, and on tooth restorations involving
composite, or tooth-colored fillings |