The Future Of Dentistry…OMG!, Part II.

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THE BATTLE-HARDENED, NO-SOFT-SPOT, DIDN’T-EVEN-CRY-WHEN-IT-WAS-A-BABY HSR, IS NOW ALL EYES AND EARS, JUMPING AT EVERY SMALL SOUND—EVEN AT THE ONES THAT IT MAKES—AS IT WALKS EVER SO SLOWLY DEEPER INTO AN UNEXPLORED DARK AND WINDING CAVE, WITH TWO FLASLIGHTS AND TEN BATTERIES, AND A HEAVY BACKPACK WITH TWO WEEKS WORTH OF GOURMET FOOD JUST IN CASE IT GETS LOST, ALL IN THE HOPES OF FINDING THE STORIED “FOUNTAIN OF JUICE,” and in the process, collect a large jug of this stuff, bring it back to civilization, analyze and patent it, and give your “shucks, I’ve got to fix my flat tire on Grand Theft Auto” smile all of the worldwide royalties from this reinvigorating elixir!

What a great time to be alive these days, what with all of the scientific advances in everything, especially in Dentistry!

Many processes and treatments will get easier, faster, and safer, for the dentist and for the patient.

The adhesives that we use today, under fillings so they stick better and eliminate temperature-change sensitivity, are on track to get so much more dependable that, lost and broken fillings just may become a thing of the past (just don’t get that new material stuff on your clothes!).

Pain control will advance to new heights. Now, we have a spectrum of choices: from no anesthesia, to light sedation, to general anesthesia. In the future, new machines and methods, like precisely placed skin patch electrodes or other nonthreatening and noninvasive methods to basically stop a patient’s pain impulses from reaching the brain, not too unlike how the innocuous noise-cancelling headphones work today (yes, pain-cancelling machines!) will be created. Patients will be able to use mind control and biofeedback techniques to easily “ignore” the perception of discomfort. Remember, pain is in the nerves of the receiver!

Orthodontics will drastically change. Bone remolding and reshaping to optimize biting relationships of the jaws will be reduced to months instead of years, because the jaw bones will be transitionally-modified, maybe through the use of mild, electrically-optimized bone and gum stimulators, making it possible for teeth to almost “glide through” bone, dragging its all-important neurovascular supply along with it.

New implant materials and accelerated bone bonding techniques will reduce the time for the implant to effectively solidify with the bone from about four months to just weeks, so the new “teeth” can be finished and readied for participating in the bite with the other teeth sooner.

Bone loss, which is frequently seen with advancing age and gum disease, will become more reversible. New, rejection-free bone-replacement materials will be developed which can bring new vitality and function to those who need it the most.

Let’s talk more…

May you have many…does a child have to walk five miles one way in the snow and rain to get to school everyday to become a “real” man?...what would you like to take with you, if you are going to spend a week in virtual-reality Cyberspace?…count your blessings when you take your next bathroom break at work!…smiles!