It may sound as if a laser whitening procedure simply involves a laser that radiates filth and color out of your teeth to keep them white. However, the process is neither as simple nor as invasive as this. What actually happens is that your dentist will apply a gel on your teeth that contains whitening materials. The laser will then be focused on top of this gel, and simply aids it in “seeping in” to your teeth. The gel gently rubs into your teeth and its substances penetrate the enamel to remove unattractive stains from the surface, as well as the depth of your teeth. This results in, essentially, a long-lasting bleach that will keep your teeth white and bright for some time to come. Ultimately, despite its somewhat intimidating name, and the fact that you need to visit a professional to have it done, laser teeth whitening is a very simple procedure with immediate effects and very limited side effects or effort.

Of course, as mentioned previously, this is merely one of many teeth whitening methods. Despite the safety of this procedure, some people are still wary of the concept of laser treatments. If this is the case for you, you may simply want to look into whitening products that you can apply on your own, or dietary habits that you can adopt to help whiten your teeth. Ultimately, however, the important thing to remember is not which of these treatments is best, but how many of them there are. No one needs to settle for stained teeth, and there are cheap and easy ways to brighten your smile.

The Dental Hub applauds the concept he presents and suggests that it might also be applicable to other countries with similar disparities in the distribution of dentists and specialists.  As Dr Reddy notes, the use of Teledentistry could allow ‘real-time’ consultation by way of online video telecommunication between dental health care practitioners or could be provided via, as the author states: ‘store and forward’ methods.  In this scenario a dental health professional, say a hygienist or general dentist, would record a digital video which could then be ‘retrieved’ later by a specialist who would provide an opinion; a  simple concept with profound health care consequences.

The system would require “videoconferencing equipment set up at both the hub site and remote site” which suggests substantial cost, but it should be appreciated that currently even skipe allows for this type of imaging between people using computer cameras.  Thus the expense of setting up such a system may not be overwhelming and should not be a deterrent.

The other potential problem with Teledentistry is the issue of data validity, particularly as it relates to the identification of oral disease.  The digital transfer of DICOM images that include acquisition data reduces the potential problem of digital misrepresentation of bone and tooth pathology but the jpeg or even Tiff images arising from video imaging are subject to color and shape distortions that could make interpretation of mucosal lesions (and subsequent diagnostic sensitivity and specificity) problematic.  Nonetheless, even if there are such problems, the benefits (e.g. detection of precancerous lesions, for example) would seem to far outweigh the potential disadvantages, particularly in underserved areas.  As Dr Reddy notes, the cost savings alone make the system potentially advantageous to patients.

The Dental Hub would like to see Dr Reddy and others who believe that Teledentistry might help to solve some of the inequities in dental health care in the rural areas of their countries apply for research grants that assess the cost savings and health benefit potential of Teledentistry.  There is likely to be Government or private (e.g. The Gates Foundation) support for research that improves oral health using this technology.

Submitted by Dr Jeff Burgess, Editor in Chief