Was just at the dentist today, and I saw him using this gun type instrument on a patient. It was a white thing with an orange cirlcle, then the “barrel”, in the patient’s mouth I could see this blue light. Anyone know what the heck this this is for/does?
It’s a high-power ultraviolet light which triggers epoxy to harden. If your filling isn’t silver/mercury paste, then it’s white-colored epoxy resin. One way to harden epoxy is to mix in a catalyst (hardener). The other way is to shine a very bright UV light on it.
The dentist was filling a cavity. The light is used to speed up a mixture of epoxys that give your filling the look of a real tooth. (no longer a silver or porcelain filling). It is fairly cutting edge and from what I saw working at a dentist’s office it does a great job.
The light soure ‘cures’ a resin which is used as filling.
First saw this technology circa 1980.
I’m going in for a filling on Friday (about the millionth one). Ever since I’ve changed dentists they’ve been using the “gun” as I call it. They stick it right up to the teeth and it makes a weird humming noise. I always figured it was a microwave death ray or making me want to keep comming back. So I guess it’s safe to leave the tinfoil hat at home this time eh?
PS: Anyone ever get a filling on one of their front teeth? I’ve only have cavities on the molars.
My orthodontist used it to set the cement on my braces, that is if he only had to do one or two. Any more than that and it’s easier/faster just to do it with conventional cement and let it set for five mins. It’s very bright when it accidentally catches your eye.
I have tiny fillings on the backs of three front teeth. I’m pretty sure that dentists always use the epoxy resin for doing fillings on front teeth (simply for cosmetic reasons).
The saga of my two front top teeth - one had a corner broken off at age 15, and had a ceramic piece put in to replace it, with gold on the back of the tooth to hold it in place.
This piece darkened over the next 20 or so years, so it was noticeably different to the enamel colour. The other front tooth had worn away some along the bottom edge, so it was a wee bit shorter.
So 2 years ago the dentist “resurfaced” the front of both teeth with the resin that is hardened by UV light. He took the old ceramic piece and gold backing off, and built the ‘stump’ up to be the thickness and width of a normal tooth - an el-cheapo capping, I guess.
Yeah, both my front teeth have fillings in them, due to years of 2-10 cans of mountain dew per day and a dislike of toothbrushes… He chiseled a bunch out so the holes were really big, which I would have prefered he hadn’t. If one falls out, I’ll probably have to have the tooth replaced. The cavities were very small and right at the gum line, the holes he drilled were about 2/3 of the face of the teeth. He also made the fillings stick out farther than the teeth did.
They used the white epoxy and UV light thing on them, as well as a molar they did previously. The molar hasn’t given me any troubles, but there is a perceptible line in the front teeth, which makes me think they’ll probably fall out at some point. The color is spot on, though. I don’t know what would happen if I had my teeth whitened, though.
Ben