"It's basically a dental laser that will cut soft tissue and hard tissue -- gums, teeth and bone. With either a reduced or no amount of anesthesia, we can accomplish most dental tasks," Rykiss told Sun Media.
It's cutting-edge dentistry, the benefits of which are spreading by strong word of mouth.
And with a laser doing the cutting, a Lindenwoods dentist has plenty of patients smiling.
Dr. Les Rykiss appears to have led Winnipeg and Manitoba dentists into an emerging technological realm, with a new laser-and-water drilling tool used by only 2-5% of his counterparts across North America.
The Waterlase M.D. machine cost him about $128,000, though after a month the gizmo is paying dividends for his practice and customers who sit basically pain-free -- even without anesthesia.
"It's basically a dental laser that will cut soft tissue and hard tissue -- gums, teeth and bone. With either a reduced or no amount of anesthesia, we can accomplish most dental tasks," Rykiss told Sun Media.
"Day after day now, I'm going, 'Wow, that was pretty cool.' "
And without a need for the traditional kind of drilling or for freezing their gums and jaws in about 80% of filling procedures, patients such as Scott Jones are warming to work that once had them frozen with fear.
'NOT ANYMORE'
"It was a wonderful experience -- no anesthetic, no pain whatsoever," Jones said after a session with Rykiss at his Linden Market Dental Centre office. "If I had a phobia, it's dentists. But not any more."
Rykiss' laser machine uses the same power and air hookups as regular dental drills.
"The whole way this works is called hydrophotonic energy," Rykiss explained.
"Laser energy works through photons. The way this cuts teeth or soft tissue or bone is without the instrument actually touching the tooth. It's approximately one millimetre away from the substance. And it's using the energy created by the laser with a water spray to create a hydrophotonic reaction, which breaks down the tooth."
Despite the techno-drill's price tag, the dentist says it's not adding to his patients' bills. The laser procedures take a tad longer than with regular tools, though the lack of anesthesia for most work allows customers to usually break even on the clock.
Rykiss stresses that it's not completely "pain-free" dentistry, because cuts to metal fillings and crowns can't be done with the laser without damaging it. The sensation experienced by laser patients, he said, usually includes no more than an "indescribably tingling sensation" which he nevertheless tried to describe.
"The odd time you get almost like a little pin prick. Because the laser itself is not firing continuously," Rykiss said. "But there is nothing about it that is not safe," he added.
The tool's biggest benefits, Rykiss says, may be seen in children. One mother said the laser worked wonders on her nine-year-old son's canker sores.
"He had no pain, absolutely no pain. They healed up very quickly, and didn't bother him again," she said.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2007/05/17/4186915-sun.html
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