Local Dentist Aims to Revolutionize Industry with No-Drill Treatment – Middleton Times Tribune

MIDDLETONMiddleton Dentist Dr. Chris Kammer established Victorious Dental at 8313 Greenway Blvd, Ste. 20 to focus on an alternative approach to dental care which treats tooth decay and preserves teeth rather than the more conventional method of drilling and filling them.

Kammer has been a dentist in Madison and Middleton for decades and says he has done just about everything in the field. About 15 years ago he became interested in the connection between mouth health and overall health. Kammer was fascinated by the correlation between poor dental health and increased risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

Kammer founded an organization called the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health, which is made up of health professionals dedicated to expanding awareness of the relationship between oral health and whole-body health. Kammer says about 1000 people attend the annual meetings.

His approach focuses on getting patients started early. He says children should begin scheduling regular visits at age one to establish a lifetime of good oral health. If and when tooth decay develops Kammer says it can be healed rather than removed.

Keep people in that lane, keep people in that preventative healing lane, so they don't ever have to get into the restorative, heavy duty surgical care lane, Kammer says.

Kammer decided to open a practice exclusively using the no-drill approach.

What if you moved away from traditional dentistry and focused on just starting out and keeping people decay free? Kammer asks. Or if they have decay, heal their decay with non-mechanical means, like they would do in medicine. If you had an infection in your skin or something, they wouldn't go cut your skin out to heal that infection. What does dentistry do when there's an infection in your tooth when there's tooth decaythey cut it out, it can be healed.

To treat tooth decay Kammer uses ozone which is an excited form of oxygen molecule. It can be used to sterilize the area of decay without needing to remove a large volume of the structure of the tooth. The tooth is then treated with silver diamine fluoride (SDF). Silver and Fluoride ions possess antimicrobial properties and remineralize the enamel and dentin on teeth.

Currently SDF is cleared for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration as a Class II medical device for the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. Kammer says the National Institute of Health is expected to complete a study on the treatment in about two years.

Kammer believes the FDA will then approve SDF as the first medicine used to treat tooth decay.

Thats going to throw dentistry for a loop, Kammer says.

He notes it is important to understand there are caveats with the treatment. Areas of a tooth with decay darken turning black. The teeth also need a steady dose of fluoride and xylitol, ideally five separate exposures daily.

Kammer says the caveats are more perceived than actual since the dark spots can be covered cosmetically and xylitol is readily available and in many products.

As far as making teeth look nice, I can do it, Kammer says. But to me, it's more important we stop the disease first, then we can worry about making your smile look pretty.

Kammer says the treatment is cheaper than traditional dentist care and he is one of the few dentists that will accept Badgercare.

If I was running state aid, I'd say what you're doing we need to have everybody in the state doing because what I charge to heal a cavity versus what I would charge them if I were to fill, Kammer says. They'll never have further problems down the line, or less likely, but it would make all the sense in the world.

He says his approach could be a much more affordable option for dentists just starting out. The equipment needed is also lightweight and mobile compared to traditional dentistry.

Honestly I can't tell you how this is going to play in the big picture, but I do know that there should be a clinic like this in every city, Kammer states.

He thinks his practice could serve as a blueprint.

I'm seeing with an eye to the future, what I do here, can be done in other cities and throughout America because I think that's what we need, Kammer says.

Victorious Dental also offers services related to whole body health including: a saliva bacteria test; systemic inflammation blood test; cardiovascular ultrasound screening scan; and in-body visceral fat level scan. More information can be found at thedrillisgone.com.

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Local Dentist Aims to Revolutionize Industry with No-Drill Treatment - Middleton Times Tribune