A team of U.K. researchers has developed a device that cancels out the noise of a dental handpiece during use, potentially easing people's anxiety about trips to the dentist.
The prototype device works in a similar way to noise-canceling headphones but is designed to deal with the very high pitch of the dental drill, according to researchers at King's College London; Brunel University in Uxbridge, West London; and London South Bank University, who pioneered the invention.
Patients plug the device into their MP3 player or mobile phone, then plug their headphones into the device, allowing them to listen to their own music while completely blocking out the unpleasant sound of the drill and suction equipment.
Patients can still hear the dentist and other members of the dental team speaking to them, but other unwanted sounds are filtered out by the device.
The device contains a microphone and a chip that analyzes the incoming sound wave, and it produces an inverted wave to cancel out unwanted noise. It also uses technology called "adaptive filtering," in which electronic filters lock onto sound waves and remove them, even if the amplitude and frequency change as the drill is being used.
The device was initially the brainchild of Brian Millar, BDS, PhD, a professor at King's College London Dental Institute, who was inspired by carmaker Lotus' efforts to develop a system that removes unpleasant road noise, while still allowing drivers to hear emergency sirens. After more than a decade of collaboration with engineering researchers at Brunel University and London South Bank University, the prototype was designed, built, and successfully evaluated, they said.
Although the device is not yet available commercially, King's is calling for an investor to help bring it to market.
"Many people put off going to the dentist because of anxiety associated with the noise of the dentist's drill," Dr. Millar said in a press release. "But this device has the potential to make fear of the drill a thing of the past. The beauty of this gadget is that it would be fairly cost-effective for dentists to buy, and any patient with an MP3 player would be able to benefit from it, at no extra cost."
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