Dr. Mark Hochman

	Of all the procedures performed on a routine basis, the one procedure that’s universally perceived by patients as the most fear and anxiety provoking is the dental injection. Inspite of the significant advances made over the past 100 years, our profession has yet to conquer one of the greatest challenges of dentistry-or has it? Milestone Scientific Inc., after spending the past decade responsibly and methodically studying this problem, now believes that with the introduction of its The Wand/STA System instrument, it has finally conquered this age-old problem.

	The Wand/STA System instrument represents the world’s first and only technology that uses the patented Dynamic Pressure Sensing (DPS) technology that accurately and safely performs a pressure-regulated intra-ligamentary dental injection. The system also can perform all traditional dental injection techniques, that is Inferior Alveolar Block, Supra-periosteal infiltration, etc. All techniques are performed more efficiently, more effectively and virtually painlessly. Milestone’s new technology incorporates visual and audible real-time feedback giving clinicians an unprecedented level of control and information when performing a dental injection. The Wand/STA replaces the antiquated heavy metal dental syringe with an ultra lightweight disposable handpiece weighing less than 10 grams for superior ergonomics and tactile control. The experience for both patient and dentist is one that is significantly less stressful.

	The company created and defined a new category of dental instruments called CCLAD (Computer-controlled Local Anesthetic Delivery) systems. These are the only dental injection instruments that have the published scientific data that substantiate the claim of eliminating or reducing pain perception when performing a dental injection. This technology has undergone the rigors of clinical testing that has been performed in numerous universities and research centers throughout the world for more than a decade.

	No other instrument, technology or device developed specifically to reduce pain and anxiety while performing a dental injection can currently make that statement.

	With the introduction of CCLAD technology several newly defined injections also were introduced to dentistry. The Wand/STA System has been optimized to perform these new dental injections. The first of these techniques, the Anterior Middle Superior Alveolar (AMSA) nerve block, published in 1997 by Friedman and Hochman, is a contemporary technique to achieve maxillary pulpal anesthesia of multiple maxillary teeth from a single palatal injection without producing the undesired collateral anesthesia to the lip and face. Subsequently, Friedman and Hochman introduced a second injection named the Palatal-Approach Anterior Superior Alveolar (P-ASA) nerve block, in which pulpal and soft tissue anesthesia of the central and lateral incisors are achieved by a single palatal injection. The general reduction in pain perception for all injections has led to innovative ways to produce more efficient and effective dental anesthesia.

	Additionally, the instrument improves the success rate of traditional injections like the inferior alveolar nerve block. Holding the Wand handpiece, with the unique pen-like grasp, allows the clinician to easily rotate while simultaneously moving the needle forward increasing accuracy by decreasing needle deflection. Added to the ability to use the new multi-cartridge injection feature the Wand/STA instrument provides numerous advantages when performing traditional injection techniques.

	The introduction of The Wand/STA System instrument represents a material improvement over previous versions of this exciting technology. Numerous innovative new features are available in the Wand/STA System, they include; automatic purging of anesthetic solution that primes the handpiece prior to use, automatic plunger retraction after completion of use, a multi-cartridge feature allowing multi-cartridge injections and reduction of anesthetic waste. Milestone Scientific has developed a novel training feature in the Wand/STA System instrument providing clinicians with spoken instructional guidance on the use of the instrument thereby substantially reducing the initial learning-curve.

Articles

 Of all the procedures performed on a routine basis, the one procedure that’s universally perceived by patients as the most fear and anxiety provoking is the dental injection. Inspite of the significant advances made over the past 100 years, our profession has yet to conquer one of the greatest challenges of dentistry-or has it?