Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-08-01 / 8. szám
FRATERNITY 5 Only 45 per cent of the American public sees the dentist each year. Fear of pain probably is the chief reason. And yet even today, new anesthetics, new treatment techniques and particularly the newly developed dental drills, or cutting instruments as dentists prefer to call them, make this fear virtually groundless. The principle underlying the new “feather-touch” cutting instruments, which will be standard equipment in the dental office of the future, is the high rate of operating speed. Instruments now in the experimental stage operate at speeds of 50,000 to 250,000 rpm, compared with the conventional drill speeds of 4,500 to 6,000 rpm. Higher speeds mean less pressure, less bone-conducted noise and less chair-time for the patient. Research and experimentation are going ahead in many areas of dental treatment. The American Dental Association sees the following as some of the things you can anticipate: Remineralizing agents to be applied to the teeth routinely to repair weakened enamel before cavities can get a start. Effective antienzyme agents which actually will prevent dental decay. Dental scientists agree that the antienzyme agents now on the market are of little or no value in protecting the teeth. New filling materials now being tested may be perfected — filling materials which stimulate in the repaired tooth the formation of secondary dentin, the substance beneath the enamel, and which will help ward off future attacks of dental decay. A radically new x-ray machine may be in general use. Called the panoramic x-ray, this experimental device can take a complete mouth x-ray on a single film. The future dental office and the type of practice will, in all probability, also undergo many radical changes. Many more dentists will be working in group practices with 10 or 15 other dentists and a proportionate number of dental assistants, hygienists and laboratory technicians. What will a dental appointment in one of these group practices be like? After an initial examination by a dentist, a dental hygienist will clean and scale your teeth. Your complete dental and medical case history will be taken after you have a set of mouth x-rays made. Next there will be an examination by the diagnostic expert of the team and then a staff conference at which the group’s members will plan your course of treatment. There are many people today wdio think the most painful part of dental treatment is paying for it. Even that is undergoing a change. Post-payment plans to spread the expense over a period of one or two years are in wide use today. In ten years, you may even be participating in somewhat the same sort of pre-payment plans that are now offered for medical treatment. These pre-payment plans for dental care are receiving intensive study, and several are operating today on an experimental basis. The above is not merely speculation or fancy. Most of the ideas either are being widely tested or are the subject of the new social and scientific research rapidly growdng in dentistry today. Its object: Better dental health for more people tomorrow'
