Laser Therapy Could Kiss Goodbye To FIllings And Drills

I am not quite sure about you, but even though my mom used to be a dentist with the government, this does not mean that getting treatment from her is any less terrifying for me than any random stranger who needs to get their teeth checked because of a cavity. Well, lasers have been the tool of choice by dentists for years when it comes to tooth whitening, instead of relying on a drill to prepare a cavity Unfortunately, the buck stops there, since filling up the hole will still require the standard trowel and spackle approach. Unless we have Wolverine’s healing factor, it will have to be this new kind of laser therapy that we will rely on in the future if all goes well.

Basically, infrared laser light is used in order to stimulate natural tooth growth, thanks to work done by researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute. These researchers have been checking out various methods to stimulate such a natural tooth repair movement, where they figured out that using an infrared laser technique known as low-level light therapy is going to reap benefits in the long run.

Early experiments involved drilling holes in the teeth of rats, before directing an infrared laser at the affected area. This in turn managed to stimulate stem cells, resulting in the creation of new dentin, which is the basic building block material required for the core of teeth. Will it work just as effectively on humans? Only time will tell.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical
Tags: laser