Dental schools have taught dental students to prepare teeth according to G.V. Black method which requires an aggressive preparation of the tooth structure. Aggressive preparation was necessary to compensate for the physical properties of amalgam and gold. Dentists were taking away way too much tooth structure than necessary to get rid of caries. In doing so, dentists were weakening and ultimately over time seeing the results of these weakened teeth -fractured cusps and broken teeth. As soon as composites, white tooth like material, came out, it becomes unnecessary to prepare teeth aggressively, but open the door for minimally invasive way of preparing teeth.
Minimal invasive dentistry (MID) should be the goal of every aesthetic dental procedure.MID has become a buzz phrase in dentistry within the past decade.
So what is it exactly MID?
MID is the practice of treating dental disease in a conservative fashion based on the best scientific evidence available.Whether it is caries, loss of tooth structure, tooth pulpitis or periodontal lesion, MID refers to the practice of providing dental therapies in the most conservative, least invasive fashion.
Using technology for practicing minimal invasive dentistry (MID):
1-Air-abrasion enables the creation of small preparations when cavitated lesions are in their infancy.
2-Hard/soft tissue lasers could replace air abrasion and eliminate the the mess of powder in the mouth.
3-Diagnodent from Kavo Dental is a laser scanner that helps in 90% more accurate than an explorer to diagnose early caries and as a result treat it more minimally invasive.
4- CAD/CAM, Adhesive dentistry play a major role in MID(minimal invasive dentistry).
5- Microscopes help dentists to see better thus removing less healthy tooth structure.
