Experts are designing a dental drill that minimises noise without compromising efficiency as research shows its a key source of dental anxiety.
Dr Tomomi Yamada, a dentist and assistant professor at the University of Osaka’s graduate school of dentistry, and collaborators looked into the sound of the dental drill and how it related to dental anxiety, also known as odontophobia.
The researchers used a supercomputer to conduct large-scale aeroacoustics simulations where they analysed the internal and external airflow of the dental drill. This is powered by compressed air and rotates at about 320,000 revolutions per minute.
Using the simulations, they were able to visualise how air moves through and around the drill to create the noise.
Dr Yamada said: ‘Originally, I was doing research on dental materials, but I realised that almost no one – not even dentists – was tackling this sound problem scientifically.
‘Our research showed that just making the drill quieter isn’t enough to make the sound less unpleasant. What really matters is improving its sound quality.’
Fear of dental sounds
The researchers tested the psychological effects of the dental drill in both children and adults, which can generate high-pitched sounds reaching nearly 20 kilohertz. They found that younger listeners had different reactions to the drill, perceiving the sounds as louder and more unpleasant.
Dr Yamada added: ‘This indicates that children’s fear of dental sounds is not merely psychological but also physiological in nature. Children truly hear these sounds differently, so their fear of dental treatment is a genuine sensory response, not just imagination.’
Now, the team is working on optimising the blade geometry and exhaust port of the drill to minimise the noise while maintaining its performance.
To get the dental industry to adopt this new technology, achieving a balance between the device’s performance and safety is key, they say, since a quieter drill will not necessarily perform better.
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