So I'm at the dentist monday for a regular cleaning and as I'm sitting there letting the dentist poke, prod, gauge, and scrape i got to doing some thinking. The rest of the medical world seems to making advances through technology, but what about dentists? I'm sure they have fancy new ways of doing fillings or prettier ways of replacing teeth, but what about the basic stuff, what about simple cleanings?

Seems like you still go in and have someone grind away with a sharp, pointy metal object while you try not to cry. After about 15 minutes of this they give your teeth a quick polishing and you're done. Can't they come up with some kind of new sonic cleaning, laser plaque removal, deep gum massaging, etc, etc? Anything better than sharp metal objects scraping away at my teeth?

Maybe then people wouldn't mind going to the dentist?