Visiting The Periodontist

The Dental field is always seeking to not only provide better and more effective treatments for conditions, but to also reduce the amount of pain that is involved in the work that needs to be done.

As well as the actual procedures themselves, sometimes the assessment of what is occurring with your oral health can be a source of pain as well. Periodontal probes haven’t really changed in decades. A more high tech alternative would reduce pain and increase the accuracy of the diagnosis

Your Periodontist Is Your Gums’ Best Friend, Call Us!

A nanoengineer, an engineer working with materials at the molecular level, thinks that squid ink may be the answer. The way it would work is as a contrast agent for use in an imaging technique called photoacoustic ultrasound. You shine a light signal, typically a short laser pulse, on a sample and it heats up and generates an acoustic signal that can be analyzed. Mapping the whole mouth accurately would be much simpler with this procedure.

It is unfortunately not going to be in use any time soon, but it is part of a larger trend moving towards practices that are less painful for the patient. If you have any concerns about what is involved with seeing your periodontist you should definitely call us and we can answer your questions.