No needles, No drills, No pain

“Well what more to say, another than great job, Dr Tinney. Air abrasion fillings are wonderful! I had four air abrasion fillings, no pain at all. They extend the life of the tooth. I have a small mouth, so doing work on me isn’t easy. These are the reasons I always come to Dr Tinney.” Steve P.

What is Air Abrasion?

Air Abrasion is a gentle spray of air-and power (computer controlled) that rubs away early stage tooth decay. It uses fine micro particle beams to brush away decay.

Does Air Abrasion hurt?

Almost never! Because decay is softer than healthy tooth structure, the air and powder spray rubs it out gently and easily. The rubbing action of Air Abrasion is kind to the tooth nerve, so that it doesn’t hurt. Over 95% of our cases are done without shots! Air Abrasion is safe, comfortable and effective for adults and children.

Why Air Abrasion?

Air Abrasion is used to treat early stage decay before it gets big enough to drill out.

Drilling out early stage decay destroys too much healthy tooth structure. It creates micro stress fractures in teeth.Drilling vibrates, heats-up teeth and is painful. Drilled fillings wear out faster than Air Abrasion fillings. Drilled fillings are larger. The larger the filling, the less tooth remaining, the weaker the tooth. Eventually the tooth chips, cracks or breaks and then, it needs a crown.

Drilling out larger stages of tooth decay is necessary. Medium to larger cavities must be drilled out. Air abrasion can delay this progression toward crowns by 10 years.
Air Abrasion removes decay without damage to healthy tooth structure. Air Abrasion fillings are small, invisible and sealed better than any other type of restoration. Air Abrasion fillings last longer than any other restoration in dentistry today. With Air Abrasion there is no heat, no smell, no vibration and no noise! Air Abrasion fillings have superior esthetics, seal and longevity.

Above: “Air Abrasion” cavities (not stains!)

Water fluoridation has changed the way these two cavities develop and grow. Fouoridation has dramatically reduced cavities on smooth surfaces of teeth, but has actually complicated cavities formed in the “pits” and “grooves” of teeth.

“Pit” and “groove” cavities have not declined, instead, they have become more difficult to detect and more complex to restore. Traditional methods of detecting decay (x-rays and dental “explorer” hand instruments) are only 24% accurate in detecting early stage “pit” and “groove” cavities!

State-of-the-art methods of finding decay include micro-dentistry, tooth decay detection dyes, lasers and fiber optics. These technologies demonstrate Above: Tooth decay Dye applied superior accuracy in the early diagnosis of decay.

before & after decay was removed

Many “pit” and “groove” cavities are too small to drill out, but too large to ignore. Drilling these cavities out would be excessive treatment. Air Abrasion (drill-free fillings) is minimally invasive dentistry. Topical fluorides and sealants will not stop or arrest the growth of tooth decay in “pit” and “groove” cavities.

Did you think the brown areas (first photo above) were just stains?

First, we had to test the brown spots to see if they were decay or stain.

1) We did a surface “scrub” using Air Abrasion to eliminate the organic plug.

2) Next, we used red tooth decay detection
dye. All the brown spots stained red, which
Above: Completed Air Abrasion preps verified presence of decay, not stain.
Air Abrasion preps are done (photo above). Here’s how we do it:

3) After verifying decay, Air Abrasion was used to remove all cavities (see photo above). Red dye was used again with Air Abrasion and retested several times until all decay was 100% removed, tested and gone.

Over 95% of the time, brown spots in pits and grooves are cavities. If your dentist doesn’t have Micro Air Abrasive Technology, he would have to numb your mouth and drill these cavities out. That would be very aggressive treatment.

Sometimes you wonder, “What’s worse the problem or the cure?”
Above: Preparing to place the filling

Tooth decay grows, so you don’t want to wait until it’s large enough to be drilled out . By the time decay is large enough for that, Air Abrasion is no longer possible. Tooth decay at this stage must be drilled out because minimally invasive dentistry is no longer possible.

The blue material above is etching gel, stage one of bonding. Next we use bonding agents and then tooth colored resin to fill the cavities. We use a liquid resin because putty type resins don’t flow into the internal irregularities you find with Air Abrasion preps. Hardening of the fillings happens after a curing light polymerizes the resin by light activation.
Above: Air Abrasion fillings done

Above you see Air Abrasion fillings done. The teeth were tested before we started, to make sure the teeth had decay or stain. Once decay was verified, Air Abrasion was used to “air brush” decay away, testing with dye at every stage. Tooth colored, liquid resins were then used to restore the teeth, after 100% of all decay was removed.

Air Abrasion makes it possible to keep the cavity preps very small, almost the same size as the brown spots were before treatment.

The Air Abrasion instrument is about the size of an ink pen. It makes a “swishing” sound while is emits a miniaturized “particle-beam” that gently scrubs out decay. Only soft decay is wiped away, since normal tooth structure is too healthy (too hard) for the particles to do any damage.

After your tooth colored fillings are placed, and polished (above). You’re done!

No needles No drill No pain

Sealants are recommended only when:

(a) The surface organic “plug” covering “pits” and “grooves” is first remove
(b) Tooth decay detection dye (100% accurate) is used to verify the absence of decay.
(c) All “pits” and “grooves” are clean, decay-free and within enamel prior to sealing.
(d) Once decay penetrates through enamel into the deeper areas of teeth, Air Abrasion fillings become necessary.

“I just got finished with my first air abrasion treatment. It was much better than I expected, no pain or discomfort whatsoever! I highly recommend it! So nice not to have the feel of numbness.” Krstin W. 

Dr Thomas Tinney   916-683-7222   7915 Laguna Blvd. Suite 105   Elk Grove, CA 95758