Children could be spared dentists' drill

Dr Dafydd Evans has successfully tested the new technique

Dentists have developed a less painful way to treat children's decaying teeth.

It could mean an end to the traumatic process of drilling and filling.

The new method, known as the Hall technique, involves cementing a metal crown over the affected baby teeth.

This stops the spread of decay until the tooth eventually falls out by itself.

Almost half of Scottish children will have had at least one tooth extracted by the time they reach 8 years of age

Dr Dafydd Evans, University of Dundee

Unlike the standard procedure currently in use, it does not involve the partial destruction of the affected teeth.

However, the practice is only suitable for children with decay in their primary molars - the grinding teeth at the back of the mouth.

It has been tested at the University of Dundee's Dental School, and now a larger scale trial is to take place throughout the Tayside region.

Not mainstream thinking

Dr Dafydd Evans, of the children's section at the Dental School, who is supervising the trial said: "Our first reaction when we came across this technique being used was, frankly, disbelief

"It seemed to go against mainstream thinking simply to cover a decaying tooth with a metal crown. But on second thoughts, the practice seemed worth a look.

"The usual "drill and fill" techniques are not popular with young children, and general dental practitioners are often afraid of upsetting children by trying to fill their decayed baby teeth, so by far the majority of cavities in 5-year olds' teeth go untreated.

"In consequence almost half of Scottish children will have had at least one tooth extracted by the time they reach eight years of age."

Dr Evans said one of the attractions of the Hall technique is that it involves no injections, caries removal or tooth preparation of any kind and, therefore, involves a minimum of pain and intrusion.

As the bacteria responsible for the tooth decay are sealed in, and deprived of nutrients, the act of sealing the decaying tooth with the metal cap should prevent the decay from spreading, at least until the baby tooth is shed at around 10 years of age.

A pilot study on a group of 5-9 year olds in Tayside found that all 45 of the children for whom crowns were successfully fitted would be happy to have the technique used on them again.

Of the parents, all but one were happy with the technique, the one exception being a parent who objected to the colour of the crown.