About Dr. John R. Licking, DDS Office
Keeping teeth and Conserving tooth structure
For more than 30 years Dr. Licking has taken more than the bare minimum of continuing education courses. Advanced post doctorate education keeps him current with all the new technology and techniques in dentistry so that he is able to offer the best that dentistry has to offer to his patients.
As a result of keeping abreast of new technology and changes in dentistry, Dr Licking has incorporated many new procedures into his office practice.
The Laser Cavity Finder, compared with visual examination or x-rays is more accurate in detecting some cavities. It cannot detect cavities everywhere but in the areas where it can be used it is terrific. And, it is painless.
Regarding x-rays Dr. Licking has for several years been using FDA approved digital x-rays to reduce exposure of our patients to x-rays by 90% plus give us more diagnostic information than the traditional film based x-rays. X-rays help them in detecting cavities in areas they can’t see and where the Laser Cavity Finder can’t see, as well as diagnosing problems under the gums that can’t be detected visually.
When decay is found, Dr. Licking can use a new air abrasion unit that can, without anesthesia, painlessly remove decay. This is very useful for smaller areas of decay that we have direct access to. This also helps them to keep the fillings as small as possible so that they are able to conserve as much of your natural tooth as possible.
Also just out in this country is a device that will actually reverse decay, turning the decayed part of the tooth back into good healthy tooth structure that is more resistant to new decay than the original tooth. This can be done without the use of anesthesia. Dr. Licking is one of the first dentists in this country to be using this device. It has been successfully used in other countries for several years. See the notes on ozone for more information on this.
In wanting to keep your natural teeth, we also need to pay attention to their foundation, the bone and gums around your teeth. Much more is now known about gum disease than in the past. Gum disease is actually present in a majority of the population. There are two reasons why gum disease is such a problem. First, it generally is painless so it often progresses to a severe problem before you even realize that you have it. This explains why it is the major cause of tooth loss today. Also because gum disease in an infection it carries with it an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, ulcers, and, when pregnant, premature low birth weight babies. Dr. Licking now routinely diagnoses and treats this disease helping not just the oral health but also treating the whole person. In addition to the traditional cleaning of teeth, and deep cleanings, which are still considered the “gold standard” in treating gum problems we also use various rinses and antibacterial agents to help control the bacteria causing gum disease.
Ozone – The revolution that is changing the face of dental care
It is a sad fact that every Monday morning, thousands of dentists around the world do not stop to think as they turn on their compressors, pick up a dental drill or turbine of some description, and then proceed to amputate parts of their patients teeth. All in the certainty that at some time in the future, the fillings they are about to place will need to be replaced. Rather than follow the Victorian engineering principles of “drill and fill” or the amputation-approach to dental care, would it not be better to have a system that allows infection control, tissue preservation, and natural remineralisation?
This is not a dream, as this technology has been available in Europe for several years and has been successfully launched into other areas of the world since then. There are several devices available that will do this. They all produce an ozone gas which is a powerful antimicrobial agent. When the gas is lightly blown onto the decay in a tooth it will penetrate the decay and kill all the bacteria present in the decay. Then over the next several months, before the bacteria have a chance to repopulate the decay, minerals naturally present in the saliva, or in some filling materials, enter the decay and remineralize the decay turning it back into healthy tooth structure. The new structure is more resistant to future decay than the original tooth.
Like any other treatment that we have in medicine or dentistry ozone can’t be looked on as a cure-all and does have its limitations. If there is no access to the decay such that the gas can’t reach the decay this doesn’t work. This can necessitate drilling a channel into the tooth so that the gas could reach the decay. Also decay turns the tooth a dark brown color and when the decay is remineralized the color doesn’t change back to the lighter color but stays dark. Sometimes you will still want a filling just to cover the brown area for esthetic reasons. However this is still better as you have less filling present and more of your natural tooth remaining. If you already have an existing filling that needs replacing, ozone will not do that; you will still need to have anesthesia, have the old filling removed, and then a new filling placed. If there happened to be decay under your filling then we could just remove the old filling, blow the gas on the decay so it will remineralize, and place a new filling. Here a new filling still has to be done but you will end up with a filling about the same size as your original filling instead of a new filling that has to replace the old filling plus the hole where all the decay was removed.
This procedure is not taught in any of the dental schools in this country so some will question it just on that basis; this isn’t the accepted way of doing things. This happens to be true of every new innovation in dentistry when it first comes out As new scientific studies come out we are gradually learning more about how this can be used. We have found out that in addition to killing bacteria the gas also will kill viruses so if it is blown on canker sores they will heal much faster. Another study was done evaluating young people with braces to see if it would have any effect on preventing decay. Each 6 month interval when the teeth were cleaned, the teeth on one half of the mouth were blown with ozone and the other half were blown with a placebo. When the braces were removed, generally two years later, 43% of the patients had some decay on the placebo side and only 13% had decay where the ozone was used. This can reduce decay but won’t eliminate it. New studies are also being done to evaluate many other possible uses and we are continuing to learn more.
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