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What about dentists is so much better now??

by anjel 3y ago

persedes 3y ago
Might be referring to the notion that nowadays dentists are more generous with anesthesia. E.g. it used to be normal to pull out wisdom teeth without general anesthesia. Also their diagnostic tools have gotten a lot better (recent x-rays are insanely detailed).
- jampekka 3y ago
  Is it really normal to use general anesthesia for that somewhere? Sounds quite risky.
  - antisthenes 3y ago
    It's only normal in America, as is the tradition of being overmedicated for just about any minor discomfort. I opted for my wisdom teeth to be taken out with local and don't regret it. The worst part is the recovery anyway, not the 20 minutes in the chair.
- al_borland 3y ago
  When I was in high school (late 90s) I remember getting cavities filled without any numbing at all. I just had to deal with it. Maybe it was a bad dentist, because I know that stuff existed then, but I wasn't assertive enough at that age to call out the dentist. These days they numb me up and I don't feel anything, but I still tense up a lot out of habit from when I was younger. They also used to take impressions at the dentist where they'd fill your mouth with some kind of goop in trays. Now they have cameras they can just move around your mouth and it stitches a model together.
  - fulladder 3y ago
    I had that done within the past 5 years. The dentist said the decay was very superficial and asked if I wanted the local anesthetic. I figured the mere fact that he was asking meant it was surely not necessary, so I said no. It was not painful.
vishnugupta 3y ago
Root Canal treatment has gotten objectively better. I have got about 10 of those over last 18 years. The first one was spread across three weeks, 6-7 sittings. Compare that to the latest one I had a few months ago. One week, three sittings. And significantly less painful.
- ebiester 3y ago
  You may be an outlier. nearly 20 years ago, my root canal was 2 sittings. In 2012, I had a mistranslation and the temporary work ended up lasting ten years. (I got it fixed up in 2022) (I am guessing that if you have 10 root canals, you've gotten the short end of the stick genetically or through childhood.)
com2kid 3y ago
X-Rays are trivial now. Doses are lower and results are instant. Dentists can easily send x-rays to each other, making visiting a specialist easier. Cosmetic treatments like Invisalign use (really cool!) 3d mapping techniques to create a treatment plan and track progress. Fluoride treatments are now more effective (the brush on fluoride vs the tray that you's soak your teeth in for a few minutes).
- justsomehnguy 3y ago
  > X-Rays are trivial now. The most important part is what the handheld ones are used through the procedure so the doc can see and correct their action in the process and you don't even need to get up.
- bloomingeek 3y ago
  Pain management is far superior today, thankfully.
pageld 3y ago
Digital Xrays save time, pain and radiation Electronic health records Cordless instruments save pain for the hygienist / dentist and angst of moving around a cord Cavitrons reduce hygiene pain and do a better job of removing calculus Invisiline gives a significant part of the population an option of not having metal mouth Then there's better techniques, materials and various other things. Dental offices have changed quite a bit in the last 25 years.
- johngossman 3y ago
  ^These are the things I was thinking of. I haven’t had any serious work (knock on wood) in years, so I can’t comment on anesthesia
danaris 3y ago
In addition to the things others have mentioned, the introduction of ultrasonic tools for cleaning teeth (probably alongside some of the other innovations) has dropped at least my average time for a regular cleaning from about 45 minutes to about 20.

What about dentists is so much better now??

by anjel 3y ago

What about dentists is so much better now??

Might be referring to the notion that nowadays dentists are more generous with anesthesia. E.g. it used to be normal to pull out wisdom teeth without general anesthesia. Also their diagnostic tools have gotten a lot better (recent x-rays are insanely detailed).

jampekka 3y ago
Is it really normal to use general anesthesia for that somewhere? Sounds quite risky.
- antisthenes 3y ago
  It's only normal in America, as is the tradition of being overmedicated for just about any minor discomfort. I opted for my wisdom teeth to be taken out with local and don't regret it. The worst part is the recovery anyway, not the 20 minutes in the chair.
al_borland 3y ago
When I was in high school (late 90s) I remember getting cavities filled without any numbing at all. I just had to deal with it. Maybe it was a bad dentist, because I know that stuff existed then, but I wasn't assertive enough at that age to call out the dentist. These days they numb me up and I don't feel anything, but I still tense up a lot out of habit from when I was younger. They also used to take impressions at the dentist where they'd fill your mouth with some kind of goop in trays. Now they have cameras they can just move around your mouth and it stitches a model together.
- fulladder 3y ago
  I had that done within the past 5 years. The dentist said the decay was very superficial and asked if I wanted the local anesthetic. I figured the mere fact that he was asking meant it was surely not necessary, so I said no. It was not painful.

vishnugupta 3y ago

Root Canal treatment has gotten objectively better. I have got about 10 of those over last 18 years. The first one was spread across three weeks, 6-7 sittings. Compare that to the latest one I had a few months ago. One week, three sittings. And significantly less painful.

ebiester 3y ago
You may be an outlier. nearly 20 years ago, my root canal was 2 sittings. In 2012, I had a mistranslation and the temporary work ended up lasting ten years. (I got it fixed up in 2022) (I am guessing that if you have 10 root canals, you've gotten the short end of the stick genetically or through childhood.)

com2kid 3y ago

X-Rays are trivial now. Doses are lower and results are instant. Dentists can easily send x-rays to each other, making visiting a specialist easier. Cosmetic treatments like Invisalign use (really cool!) 3d mapping techniques to create a treatment plan and track progress. Fluoride treatments are now more effective (the brush on fluoride vs the tray that you's soak your teeth in for a few minutes).

justsomehnguy 3y ago
> X-Rays are trivial now. The most important part is what the handheld ones are used through the procedure so the doc can see and correct their action in the process and you don't even need to get up.
bloomingeek 3y ago
Pain management is far superior today, thankfully.

pageld 3y ago

Digital Xrays save time, pain and radiation Electronic health records Cordless instruments save pain for the hygienist / dentist and angst of moving around a cord Cavitrons reduce hygiene pain and do a better job of removing calculus Invisiline gives a significant part of the population an option of not having metal mouth Then there's better techniques, materials and various other things. Dental offices have changed quite a bit in the last 25 years.

johngossman 3y ago
^These are the things I was thinking of. I haven’t had any serious work (knock on wood) in years, so I can’t comment on anesthesia

danaris 3y ago

In addition to the things others have mentioned, the introduction of ultrasonic tools for cleaning teeth (probably alongside some of the other innovations) has dropped at least my average time for a regular cleaning from about 45 minutes to about 20.