Beneath the Surface: My Experience in the World of Modern Dentistry

 Hadia Hussain

At 6:30 a.m. sharp, my iPhone buzzes violently, pulling me out of my deep sleep. Subconsciously my hand instinctively taps the snooze button three times. This is a habit that I developed over the past two years of working at the dental office. Eventually, as I drag myself out of bed I feel a rush of excitement for what awaits me in Suite 3A. I choose a fun pair of scrubs, make my daily run to Dunkin’, and head to the office, ready to dive into another busy day. 

As a pre-dental student, my role as a dental assistant offers me inevitable exposure to patient care and advanced technologies. From chair-side assisting to taking Invisalign scans I am constantly amazed at how modern technology and continued education have transformed patient care. Just as chemists use various software to predict chemical reactions, we use digital models to envision how a patient's jaw will adjust to aligners or expanders. This blend of assisting and learning has solidified my passion for a career in dentistry, driven by the hope of improving global oral health. 

Yet, it was only two years ago that I learned about the bridge between the world of dentistry and medicine. Dentistry today is not just about cleaning teeth, filling cavities, or straightening teeth, it is about using cutting-edge technology, research, and genetic history to prevent future diagnoses and everyday struggles. 

Much like other fields, technology in dentistry has forever changed how providers diagnose and treat their patients. Specifically, digital imaging with iTero scans and Cone beam computed tomography has made it possible to visualize a patient's oral structure without picking up an instrument. Yet, John Horgan, in his article “Huge Study Confirms Science Ending! (Sort Of),” highlights that rather than publishing new ideas much of today’s research expands on past knowledge. While this is often true, updating established concepts is necessary to advance fields like health care. For example, from the 1600s to the present day many practitioners used scissors to release an Ankyloglossia, or tongue tie. In contrast, others have advanced to newer options such as diode and CO2-based lasers (Baxter, 2020). Scissors have been proven to cause more trauma and scarring compared to laser technology. In the office where I currently work, a CO2-based surgical laser called the Light Scalpel featured in Figure 1 is used to perform a less invasive procedure on patients as young as a few days old. This innovation has paved the way for dentistry, where the airway is a top priority. 



     

Figure 1: The following image showcases the 

Light Scalpel a CO2-based surgical laser

In recent years, the tiny string of tissue known as the lingual frenulum has become a hot topic of discussion in health care. While it might seem like a minor feature, it plays a huge role in an individual's overall health. A restricted frenulum, often called a “tongue-tie” or ankyloglossia can lead to compensatory behaviors such as mouth breathing, snoring, and increased body tension. Further highlighting that even the smallest feature in the human body plays a major role. In the office, when a patient is diagnosed with a “tongue-tie” they are more than often referred to an orofacial myofunctional therapist (OMT), a provider who can help wean off of oral habits like thumb-sucking and tongue-thrusting. As Soroush Zaghi MD mentions in his research article “Lingual frenuloplasty with myofunctional therapy: Exploring safety and efficacy in 348 cases” this form of therapy is an option for treatment for sleep-disordered breathing, correcting oral posture, and improving breathing patterns. This holistic approach is recommended to patients ranging from a couple of weeks to even a year and has proven to prevent patients from going back to old habits.



Figure 2: This image showcases a case from Dr. Soroush Zaghi's article, Lingual Frenuloplasty with Myofunctional Therapy: Exploring Safety and Efficacy in 348 Cases, which highlights  a 16-year-old boy who had restricted tongue mobility. After undergoing a laser release and following up with myofunctional therapy, he regained full tongue function.


Although many questions about the airway have been answered, there has been a growing collaboration between therapists and surgeons in hopes of achieving the best treatment outcomes. Once again, if you are experiencing sleep-disordered breathing or if your partner is snoring obnoxiously loud at night you both might just want to give the tiny string under your tongue a closer look. Therefore, to make discoveries there is a need for new technologies and research. Further indicating that the quest for improvement is never truly complete. In other words, even if one discovered a theory that had the answer to everything, new questions would keep driving research forward as Hawking explains in “Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?” He emphasizes that science is always evolving because discoveries lead to new questions. In dentistry, this idea is also vital. For instance, understanding the effects of tongue ties or advanced technologies will not stop researchers from exploring further. Instead, when something is understood it opens the floor to new questions. 

Driven by curiosity and the want for continuous learning, my passion for pursuing a career in dentistry is what excites me the most. While suctioning is a crucial task, it’s not the highlight of my day as a dental assistant. What keeps me on my toes is the thrill of not knowing what emergency case will walk through the door to test my quick thinking skills. As a pre-dental student, I stepped into the dental office expecting to face the horror of 6-month cleanings, only to be thrown into the world of tongue ties and airway development. Working here feels like an episode of a South Asian drama, just when things are running smoothly and you think you have got it all figured out, a plot twist leaves you hooked for the next episode!






Resources:

Hawking, S. (1981). Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics? Physics Bulletin, 32(15). 10.1088/0031-9112/32/1/024

Horgan, J. (2024, April 18). Huge study confirms science ending! (sort of). John Horgan (The Science Writer). https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/yrb9e7uefpeqrlkiasoc6octxtnm5g

“Surgical CO2 Lasers - Dental Lasers - Soft Tissue Lasers.” LightScalpel, 8 Sept. 2023, www.lightscalpel.com/. 

What’s the best tool to use to treat a tongue-tie? - Alabama tongue-tie center: Dr. Baxter & dr. Trego: Birmingham, AL. Alabama Tongue-Tie Center | Dr. Baxter & Dr. Trego | Birmingham, AL. (n.d.-b). https://tonguetieal.com/whats-the-best-tool-to-use-to-treat-a-tongue-tie/ 

Zaghi , S. (2019, July 9). Https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.3216. Lingual frenuloplasty with myofunctional therapy: Exploring safety and efficacy in 348 cases. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.3216 

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