Minimally Invasive Dentistry

What does it mean?


---The ability to catch real problems sooner, while they are small.

---Avoiding unnecessary treatment on areas that look like cavities but actually aren't.


Using 5.5x magnification, line-of-sight illumination, differential staining and laser-powered bacterial fluorescence; we are able to provide the most accurate and complete diagnosis possible with each examination.


---Using modern re-mineralization techniques and patient motivation to heal teeth in situations where it is more appropriate than invading the tooth structure.


The science and understanding of tooth decay has come a long way in the past decade.  Recent advancements have proven that minor tooth decay is reversible under the right circumstances.  We will tell you which areas of decay can heal naturally or with MI Paste and we will encourage that path, whenever possible.


---Customizing each treatment to the specific details that make each problem unique.


An important concept in dentistry is the creed that a dentist use whichever techniques, instruments, and materials they are most comfortable with and whichever are most consistent "in their hands". 

Our intense magnification, increased visibility and state-of-the-art training save you a lot of natural healthy tooth structure.  This is because: what we are consistent and comfortable with are the very smallest burs and syringes, the strongest crowns and cements, and the finest, most accurate instruments available.  It is no longer needful to create a deep, wide, "cookie-cutter" void to remove a small cavity.  Minimally invasive dentists recognize the historical significance of the old filling standards that were established in the 1800's when all fillings were made of metal, but we now remove far less tooth structure for a more-predictable and safer result.


---Preserving your natural tooth structure, and maximizing the inherent strength in your teeth, means fewer upgrades on your dental work in the future.


With each additional surgery that a tooth undergoes more natural strength is removed and many teeth upgrade from Large Filling--> Crown-->Root Canal--> Extraction.

While many factors contribute to these "upgrades", the single most important factor is: how large was the original insult to the tooth?  A minimally invasive approach to dentistry allows many more parents to keep their children from ever getting crowns, root canals, etc., by keeping their fillings smaller and only invading tissues when it is absolutely necessary.



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For more on Minimally Invasive Dentistry:


What is minimally invasive dentistry?


Minimally Invasive Dentistry is the application of "a systematic respect for the original tissue." This implies that the dental profession recognizes that an artifact is of less biological value than the original healthy tissue. Minimally invasive dentistry is a concept that can embrace all aspects of the profession. The common delineator is tissue preservation, preferably by preventing disease from occurring and intercepting its progress, but also removing and replacing with as little tissue loss as possible.


Oral Health Prev Dent. 2004:2 Suppl 1:287-92 Ericson D.