At Downey Dental Arts, we take great pride in taking advantage of the latest and best dental technologies to make our patients feel comfortable and cared for during their visits. Dental air abrasion is one of the technological innovations in dentistry that will help improve your oral health with ease. If you have a cavity, you are likely to benefit from air abrasion.
Air abrasion is a special dental technique performed by dentists to clear tooth decay and debris without the use of an old-fashioned dental drill. Air abrasion is part of our arsenal of modern tools that we use at Downey Dental Arts to give you the best dental care in Southern California.
Air abrasion is a specific dental technique using a special electronic tool to clean a tooth. The term “dental abrasion” means something completely different. Dental abrasion means dental erosion, which means a portion of your tooth enamel has worn away. You can actually cause dental abrasion of your teeth by over-brushing (brushing too hard with a tough toothbrush).
A dentist can also cause “dental abrasion” on purpose if they use a tool to wear away some of the tooth as part of a dental process. Thus, sometimes a dentist will cause dental abrasion with an air abrasion tool. Does that make sense? We hope that clears up any confusion.
Professional air abrasion is used for a variety of dental treatments. One of the most common is clearing and cleaning a tooth with a cavity, so that the tooth can be repaired with a dental crown, cap, inlay, or onlay. It might also be used to prepare the tooth for a dental sealant. Air abrasion is also very helpful in some cases where a tooth has a lot of discoloration on the surface.
Sometimes, we are unable to use air abrasion. If you have a really deep cavity, we may still need to use a traditional dental drill. But in all cases, we will make sure you are comfortable and have the proper local anesthetic to make sure you won’t feel any pain during the procedure.
Professional air abrasion makes things much easier for both the dentist and the patient. Patients are often put off by dental drills. Air abrasion is more gentle on the teeth and doesn’t put a lot of pressure on them. Because of this, less anesthesia is needed with air abrasion.
You would think that a dental drill would be more precise than air abrasion, but it is the opposite. Air abrasion is extremely precise and allows the dentist to target a specific area with much more accuracy. This also reduces the chance of a tooth accidentally chipping while the debris is being cleared away.
An air abrasion tool is like a mini-sandblaster. The device emits a small stream of sand-like particles. These particles are made from safe, non-toxic materials such as silica (aka sand), aluminum oxide, or baking soda. The fine particles are shot out at a high speed, which hits the tooth and erodes the target area, removing decay, discoloration, and other unwanted debris. The particles and debris are immediately removed from the mouth with a small suction tube.
We use very reliable safety precautions during air abrasion to keep both you and our dental team safe. The patient will wear protective eye gear and a dental dam, which is a protective sheet that blocks the rest of the mouth (this means you are not at risk of swallowing the air abrasion particles).
We sometimes use a protective resin, which can cover up adjacent teeth, along with gums, so they do not suffer any unwanted dental abrasion.
The use of dental air abrasion is not something that is billed separately from your dental procedure. It is often utilized to clear out tooth decay in a cavity that needs a filling or a cap. The costs for these services vary. Our front desk staff will be happy to discuss with you any costs. We can also arrange payment plans that work within your budget.
Restore Your Oral Health With Air Abrasion in Downey
Would you like to learn more about air abrasion services in Southern California? Contact us today by calling (562) 445-3363 to schedule your appointment at Downey Dental Arts.
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