156 Where There Is No Dentist 2012
PERMANENT FILLINGS USING A DENTAL DRILL
This chapter has shown how to place a temporary filling with cement and
a permanent filling with ART. This book does not give full instructions for
placing permanent fillings with a dental drill, but if you have been trained
to use a dental drill, see pages 217 and 221-222 for ideas about getting
equipment and resources.
Some Simple Dental Drills
We use a dental drill to remove all
decay from a cavity and to change
the shape of the hole in the tooth
so it can firmly hold the permanent
filling material. The most expensive
drills use electricity, but some drills
are powered by people instead of
electricity.
Village dental workers in the mountains
of western Mexico use bicycle power to
make compressed air, which runs a high
speed drill.
Local young people or family members
volunteer to pump the air while they
wait to have their own teeth fixed.
In India and Guatemala, health
workers use a foot treadle to power
a drill, the same way they operate a
sewing machine. This kind of drill is
slower than a compressed-air drill,
and the grinding produces a lot of
heat, so one must take care not to
let the tooth get so hot that it kills
the nerves (see page 157). Still, this
is one of the simplest and cheapest
ways to place a permanent filling.