John J. Graeber DMD MAGD MALD FICD
There are many references to cracked tooth syndrome in dental literature. However, few references have actually pinpointed the cause of most fractures … the dental high speed handpiece!
Poorly understood among many restorative dental practitioners is the destructive nature of the air rotor when used intracoronally.
All handpieces exhibit a degree of eccentricity which results in tooth shattering when preparing intracoronal cavities! Heat and vibration combine to cause microfracturing of dental structure to say nothing of the noise and pain.
If not high speed, what is the alternative treatment? Hard tissue lasers? Too expensive compared to other available methods and poor performance on thick occlusal enamel!
Air Abrasion? Tried in 1948 and again in 1993. No adhesive restoratives in the ‘40’s and quite a MESS in the 1990’s!
So what’s new in 2011? Air abrasion with “Water Guard”! The Aquacut by Velopex is the inexpensive alternative to both the dreaded drill and the overly-hyped hard tissue lasers without the mess!
Cavity preparation with the Aquacut is silent, cannot cause microfracturing and is virtually painless! For practitioners, the “water Guard” surrounds the air abrasive particles in a slurry which remains in the oral cavity and is easily eliminated in normal evacuation tubes.
Everyone wins! The patient hears nor feels anything, the Doctor can see and cut efficiently without creating a mess, and the bond strength to air abraded structure is the highest possible!
Dr. John Graeber is one of the pioneers of Air abrasive techniques.
He has utilized air abrasion since 1993 every day in his pracitice.
He is experienced with all tissue lasers as well since 1998.
He is an international lecturer in Minimally invasive techniques including lasers and Air abrasion.