(see Graphic) Stephen Parker has literally seen the light – laser light, that is. In November 1990, he was tapped on the shoulder by a salesman at a trade fair for dental equipment. Parker was impressed with what he was shown, and not long afterwards became one of the first British dentists to replace his drill with a laser. Now he is national publicity officer for the British Association of Laser Dentistry, which he runs from his home in Harrogate in North Yorkshire.FIG-mg18744101.jpg
Like most of the 80-odd members of the association, Parker is a true enthusiast. Virtually all of them use lasers designed in the US by American Dental Laser (ADL) of Michigan, and on sale in Britain for about Pounds Sterling 30 000. The beauty of the technology, according to Parker, is that it allows pain-free drilling. Patients at his private practice are offered an anaesthetic, but ‘the regulars soon gain enough confidence to do without it’. So far, he says, no one has complained of any side effects.
Ironically, if Parker’s practice were in the US, he would not be allowed to use his laser in this way. There, unlike in Britain, all new medical technologies must undergo clinical trials similar to those required for new drugs. Only when a machine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration can it be used in general practice. In 1990 the ADL laser was approved for use, but only on soft dental tissues like gums and pulp. Approval for use on the hard tissues, enamel and dentine, could take several years: ADL has only recently received permission to start preliminary…
