Many are most familiar with a trip to the dentist meaning an hour or two spent in a dentist's chair while that whining drill grinds away at a tooth ? hot, foul smelling and not at all comfortable. Combine this with the experience of local anesthetic, the half dead face, and it's no wonder so many people actively avoid the dentist.



Recent developments in dental technology mean that this procedure need no longer be harrowing and that a visit to the dentist can be as insignificant as going to get a manicure or haircut. Indeed, in many cases, the handling of tooth decay need not even involve an anesthetic.

Traditionally, the dentist would examine the mouth with a small mirror and a dental pick that would detect fissures and pits in teeth, by sense of touch. Dental x-rays could reveal tooth decay, but only when it had advanced to a certain degree. The dentist would then drill out the decayed area and fill it.

Dr. Kourosh Maddahi, Beverly Hills dentist, has pioneered drill-free practice. For diagnosis, his practice utilizes a digital x-ray ? a technology that exposes a patient to a very minimal amount of radiation and displays findings in seconds to both the dentist and patient. The practice also employs Diagnodent, a laser-based solution that detects the decay that doesn't show up on x-rays and that is otherwise easily overlooked by the naked eye.

The advantage here is that decay can be found long before major damage to tooth structure has a chance to occur. Drill-free dentistry can be described, in Dr. Maddahi's words ?as a mini-sandblaster that removes decay without the normal whirring of the drill or the strong smell and no grating vibration. Best of all, it is shot free as no anesthetic is needed with air-abrasion.? The equipment is extremely precise and is as effective as the skill of the operator using it. In the case of Dr. Maddahi this skill is unsurpassed and decay is removed with practically no loss of healthy tooth structure. The area so treated is then filled with a tooth colored material; Dr Maddahi does not use mercury in his practice.

In those cases where local anesthetic would be needed, modern technology is again at hand to make that experience as pleasant as possible. Every dental procedure requiring Novocain has a new technology for injection. Dr. Maddahi explains, "Before the Citoject, using conventional methods, few dentists would be painless. What causes the pain of an injection is not the needle but the rate of delivery of the anesthetic. However with the Citoject, a micro-compressor controls the rate of injection so patients feel only a slight pressure, no pain. I try very hard to put the patient's comfort first. I have used the Citoject since it first became available to us." The Citoject is a pen-shaped device that works to numb only the tooth, not the tongue, cheek, face and lips, making anesthetic injections essentially painless.

Drill-free dentistry is pain-free dentistry. As everyone will need a dentist sooner or later it is only sensible to ensure that choice of dentist means pain-free.