The Australian Dental Expo was at Darling Harbour on the weekend at the Sydney Convention Centre. All the latest equipment for dentists and dental technicians was on show. Most of it was pretty ordinary but I had been hearing of a needle-free injection system that was going to be on display. I went searching and what I found was very interesting.
The system really didn’t have a needle in a conventional sense. It consisted of a spring-loaded cartridge that delivered a measured dose of anaesthetic directly into the submucosa and onto the periosteum (which means right up against the bone) so that it starts acting within seconds. It works much more quickly than a normal infiltration and there’s no pain!
Do you feel anything? Yes, you feel slight pressure when you hear a ‘pop’ but then it starts feeling numb immediately. I was very impressed. For patients that are needle phobic it is going to make a big difference and for kids it is perfect! While it can’t be given everywhere in the mouth or for all teeth in adults, we can use it everywhere in kids. The dose is so much smaller, works so much quicker and numbness of the soft tissues does not last as long.
Well, we’ve got it in the office prepped and ready to go when it’s needed. I don’t think that it will be long before patients hear about the system and start asking for it. When combined with the dental laser, I suspect that many more fillings will be both drill-free and needle-free and that can only mean happier patients.
