If you are a dentist, please forgive me for saying, but I seem to view your profession as being rather primitive (in this day and age, I mean).
I always think that the state of dentistry should be far further down the field than it is. After all, it’s only one small particular body part. It surely does not have the complex intricacies that the heart or lungs do.
Yet we still rely on drilling when supplying fillings for folks with rotted teeth. Are the fillings really any better now than ten years ago? Surely we CAN do better?
I mean, when actually remedying bad teeth I always get a sense that the options are:
· Having them capped (gold or silver to look like some rapper off MTV)
· Fillings
· Removing teeth
· Bleaching
· That’s it
I remember watching a History Channel programme on Ingrid Bergman (no not the Biography Channel). I remember a part where it mentioned she was asked to have her teeth “fixed” (via operation) because they were so crooked. I remember thinking, “they could do that in the 1930’s?”
So maybe my picture of dentistry is skewed by what I see on TV. I don’t really know much about the advanced surgeries or techniques.
What are the latest technical innovations in the field of dentistry? Are any new discoveries on the horizon? What’s the most exciting stuff in dentistry at the moment? And what kind of stuff can money pay for these days? Can I have sparkly white teeth that I never have to clean again at a price? Also, can teeth that have been removed ever be replaced? Is there any way to re-create old teeth from scratch (say, when a piece of the old tooth has broken off – can it be remade and re-fitted or aligned?)?
And, given it’s 2004 now (with 2005 looming largely over our heads) can anybody foresee what the state of dentistry will be like 10 or 15 years from now? How about 100 years on? Will old people be able to grow back new teeth (if they lost their previous set and use false teeth)?
There are dental implants now. Much better than root canals or bridges.
Much of the breakthroughs are in the adhesives themselves. They may have had similar procedures back in the 1930’s, but they definately did not have the adhesive technology that we have today.
I am sure there are much more, such as stem cell research that is in the developing stages right now. Not sure you can call something in the developing state a “breakthrough.”
I am sure there is a dentist or a dental student on this board somewhere that can answer your questions better.
All my caps (including about 50% of my front 2 teeth) are rebuilt using material that looks and feels like real teeth. About my only complaint is that these “fake teeth” tend to stain more than real teeth.
I haven’t had silver caps for 20 years (when I was ~7 or so). I guess they could still be in use but they aren’t where I go.
I do agree though that some parts of dentistry is a little behind. When I had 2 teeth removed the doc took what amounts to a pair of pliars and ripped them out (fully numbed of course).
I guess I’m disappointed in the lack of progress made regarding anesthesia in your typical dental office. Why are so many dentists reluctant to have nitrous oxcide available? I see so many ads for teeth whiteners and invisible braces, yet we still have lots of people who won’t go to the dentist simply because they don’t want to get an injection.
I looked for a dentist who offered sedation dentistry, and after finding one on the internet, I wrote them an e-mail specifically asking about it. The response was somethiing like, “Sure, come on in… Dr. Morgan has vast experience in sedation dentistry…”. But when I got to the office, it turns out that they didn’t provide it, they didn’t even have nitrous oxide, and the dentist was all disgusted that I was even asking about it. And this wasn’t an old practice with a dentist who got his license in the 1940’s, this was a very modern looking office with several dentists of various ages.