When you hear the word dentist, what thought immediately comes to mind...pain? Unfortunately, pain and dentistry have always been synonymous with each other. Throughout history dentists and engineers have attempted to make dentistry more comfortable by making tools and equipment more patient friendly. Now NASA and its research partners have made pain free dentistry a reality with a new instrument called the Ultrasonigraphic Periodontal Probe. This new probe integrates diagnostic medical ultrasound techniques with advanced artificial intelligence to automatically detect, map, and diagnose periodontal disease. Periodontal diseases are infections caused by bacteria that forms on oral surfaces. Periodontal disease is classified as gingivitis which affects the gums, or periodontitis, which may affect all of the soft tissue and bone supporting the teeth. Jennifer Cortese examines how a new dental instrument originally designed at NASA will finally make a trip to the dentist a painless experience.

Additional Information
http://technology.larc.nasa.gov/scripts/nls_ax.dll/w3SuccItem