"Dental Button" Calms Fears in the Dentist's Chair
The new hand-held device calms fear in dental patients
By MAYA POPE-CHAPPELL
Updated 7:59 AM EST, Fri, Nov 20, 2009
Fearful dental patients might be getting a little relief soon. A new device, The Dental Button, allows you, the cavity-prone patient, to control the dentist’s drill.
The new hand-held device allows dental patients to press a button to immediately stop the dentist's drill to relieve pain or just calm the nerves.
This control puts patients like Joann Bay-Dee, who can hardly sleep the night before a dental appointment, at ease.
"You have no control, you have people leaning over you. It's almost primal. Your throat is exposed," said Dr. Jerald Matt, explaining the fear of patients like Bay-Dee.
Dr. Matt says The Dental Button calms patients like Bay-Dee who often hold their breath, tremble and fidget in the dentist’s chair.
"When someone is more relaxed and they're breathing easier, things go more efficiently,” he said, adding that the button didn’t interfere with his work.
"I had control over the instrument,” said Bay-Dee who only stopped the drill twice during her routine appointment. “What ever he put in my mouth I could stop."
First Published: Nov 12, 2009 1:06 PM EST
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
