Treating Tooth Cavities Without The Drill? Yes we can!
In September 2009 DMG America came out with a new product for dentists known as ICON
Our Treatment Assistant, Regina, shares these notes about this exciting new product for treating small areas of decay or decalcification without using the drill as would normally be done for dental fillings!
ICON carrier between two teeth.
ICON stands for infiltration concept.
Dentists with the use of this new technology can treat incipient tooth decay upon discovery without the use of a dental drill! Many cavities begin between teeth and in order to get to this decay, a dentist must drill away the healthy tooth structure over the top of the decay allowing the dentist to remove the decay and restore the tooth. ICON stops the progression of tooth decay when treated in the early stages. This increases the life expectancy for the tooth and is minimally-invasive. Previously dentist had to “wait and watch” until the decay was big enough to justify drilling the tooth, sacrificing healthy tooth structure and then filling the area that was drilled away.
The special carrier is porous on one side only so only the tooth that needs to be conditioned (see green) is treated!
A curing light is used to fuse the infiltrate into the pores of the tooth. The weak area is effectively sealed from further progression of decay!
ICON works by placing a few solutions that spontaneous flows around the area being treated then hardened by a light which bonds the material to tooth. The area is then evaluated annually with bite-wing x-rays. A variation of this same ICON technique can be used to treat white spot lesions to stabilize demineralized enamel area, and give teeth the appearance of the surrounding healthy enamel.
Our office in Grand Junction, Colorado is very pleased to offer this service for our patients! Our phone number is (970) 242-3635. Learn more about our practice on our web site at www.juliegillisdds.com. We would love to have you “LIKE” us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/juliegillisddspc
Yours for better dental health, Regina and Julie Gillis, DDS