Cool Plasma: Latest Treatment for Knocking Out Tooth Infections
"…many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." –Dan. 12:4b (NKJV)
I'm one of those dental patients who will wait till the last possible moment before absolutely having to see a dentist. So, when new developments are announced, especially in the realm of "painless" dentistry, I sit up and take notice.
While the article mentioned here doesn't address the issue of pain, it does highlight a remarkable new way to treat tooth infections—such as within a root canal—by using a "cool" form of plasma. (Photo: USC)
Researchers from the USC School of Dentistry and Viterbi School of Engineering had been experimenting with safer forms of treatments for biofilm infections, and discovered that by using a "pulsed power supply" for the plasma stream, it stayed "cool" enough to touch and still destroyed the infection.
The new treatment would be safer than lasers, which carry the risk of eye damage or tissue burns. "Atomic oxygen [a single atom of oxygen, instead of the more common O2 molecule] appears to be the antibacterial agent," said Chunqi Jiang, a research assistant professor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, and one of the two authors of the study.
To read the entire article from Science Daily, access the source link provided.
