Clinical Trial of an Air-Abrasion/Chemomechanical Operative Procedure for the Restorative Treatment of Dental Patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether caries removal with air-abrasion/Carisolv™ gel is an acceptable and viable alternative in the treatment of dental patients. Twenty-two patients were treated with conventional methods (local anaesthetic injection/drill) followed by alternative treatment (air-abrasion and Carisolv gel) in a general practice setting, by the same operator. The participants’ pre-operative anxiety levels were measured using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale. Their postoperative levels of anxiety/dislike for aspects of both conventional and alternative treatments were assessed using a visual analogue scale. Levels of anxiety/dislike for both treatments were compared and statistically analysed. Results showed 100% of subjects were concerned about several aspects of conventional treatment including pain/discomfort on injection, taste of anaesthetic, length of time tissues remained numb, noise of the drill, its sensory vibrations and water coolant. However, 75% of the study population were happy with all aspects of the air-abrasion technique including dust, pain/discomfort and vibrations produced. Overall, the study population found Carisolv gel to be an acceptable alternative method of caries removal in terms of time taken, pain/discomfort and taste. There were statistically significant differences between patients’ perceptions of various aspects of the two treatment methods. All participants found the alternative treatment to be pain-free, quicker and overall more acceptable compared with conventional treatment. The conclusion drawn from the study was that air-abrasion/Carisolv gel treatment was a well-accepted and viable alternative to conventional local anaesthetic injection and drill for dental patients.

Management of fear and anxiety in the dental clinic: a review

“…However, one paper from the UK did find that air abrasion produced appreciably less pain and anxiety than the use of local anaesthetic and drill. 134 The study reported that the most welcome aspect of air abrasion was that it was pain-free, quick, avoided unpleasant aspects of the drill such as the noise and vibrations, and that it avoided local anaesthetic injection and continued numbness, which have been found to be sources of considerable anxiety. 135 …”

Chemomechanical versus drilling methods for caries removal: an in vitro study

“…Nonetheless, the method may be suitable for caries management, since anesthesia could be avoided, 9,11 thus compensating for the time required for anesthesia injection and onset of anesthesia as well as for time needed for behavior management. 17,18 In addition, caries removal by CMCR in indirect pulp therapy could decrease the risk of mechanical pulp exposure.…”

An X-Ray Microtomography Study on the Mineral Concentration of Carious Dentine Removed during Cavity Preparation in Deciduous Molars

“…Thus, the ideal in caries removal is to excavate the diseased dentine to the junction between these two layers [Banerjee et al, 2000c], as opposed to removing all demineralised dentine, as the operator in this study has done over most of the surface area of the 10 carious lesions. Banerjee and co-workers have investigated a number of techniques in caries excavation including hand and rotary bur excavation, air abrasion, sono-abrasion, chemomechanical caries removal, laser and enzyme [Banerjee et al, 2000a, b;Rafique et al, 2003]. A new polymer bur [Boston, 2003], which was claimed to remove infected dentine only, has also been investigated [Celiberti et al, 2006].…”