My Friend John

My Friend John

John entered my life and my dental world at the age of 2.  Dr. Suzy (MD), John’s mom, brought John into my scary dental world with its noises, smells and bright lights with the hope that I would show John the same patience I showed to her at an early age also as my patient.

John’s success in my office came very slowly, sometimes at his six month recall simply handing John a toothbrush and telling him that he was my friend.

After approximately three years of slow patient care Grandma Barb brought John in for his routine care appointment.  I had been using the dental version of the b-Calm technology on my highly anxious patients and asked Grandma Barb if I could try the b-Calm unit with John (even though the ear buds were too large and had to be held in place.)  My heart literally jumped for joy as an agitated child was carried to a safe place as I for the first time “counted” John’s teeth.  I think Grandma Barb was pleasantly shocked at John’s successful dental visit.

This was b-Calm’s first step into the world of autism.  This spawned our very positive research findings with local state universities, and our autism conference in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as the exciting birth of Champions of Autism, a non-profit entity.

My life experience with John continued as John, Dr. Suzy and myself went to Dr. Ed’s office, an oral surgeon friend, for John to have some teeth extracted (due to lack of space).  Through no prodding from me John’s b-Calm’s unit was in Dr. Susie’s hand as we entered Dr. Ed’s suite.  Dr. Susie asked John if he wanted his b-Calm at which time John answered “of course”.  John was placed in the dental chair, surrounded by five adults, bright lights with no visual negative response.  He did react as we all would as an IV was placed in his hand.  The work was uneventful and Dr. Susie’s fears with John not being able to handle this experience were pleasantly forgotten.  Dr. Ed’s comments were that “normal” treatment of an autistic child would be IM sedation and then work would proceed.  He was pleased at the effectiveness of the b-Calm unit.

My life story with John continues.  I have been thanked by Dr. Suzy and Grandma Barb numerous times.  I do not think they believe me when I thank them for allowing John to be part of my life.  I look forward to be able to rejoice in his successes and truly thank God for allowing John to be a champion in my life.

-Dr. Ken Budke, Founder of b-Calm

b-Calm, AudioSedation and H1N1

What does H1N1 have to do with b-Calm and AudioSedation?

A lot.

Modern dentistry demands the utmost cleanliness for protection against communicable disease.  In today’s environment of increased media focus on influenzas such as the H1N1 virus, the proactive dental practitioner will use all available methods to protect patients.

The b-Calm system is on of the first in office audio based systems to address this issue.  Typical audio entertainments systems are not designed for use in a medical environment.  They may be damaged by medical grade cleaners, collect dirt, or be made of materials that attract and retain contamination.

The b-Calm system was designed to address hygene issues in a unique and innovative way that adds to the performance of the system.

The primary point of contact with the b-Calm system is the earphones.  Early on, b-Calm engineers identified a ear-bud style earphone as the best method for delivering AudioSedation.  To greatly reduce the chance of contamination between patients, a novel earbud tip was developed.  The tip, currently patent pending, works as both a passive noise suppressor, and can be easily replaced after use.  With replaceable tip, time consuming cleaning is eliminated and patients can be ensured that the product they’re using is safe and clean.

The b-Calm earphone tip is just one of the many features that make the AudioSedation system a safe and effective means of addressing dental anxiety.  To learn more, see our product description page for professionals.

The science behind b-Calm

We’re often asked what AudioSedation is all about. We coined the term to describe the type of noise control that b-Calm provides, here’s a little more about the science b-Calm.

Noise is a common annoyance. As another form of pollution it increases stress and decreases quality of life.  Be it the cars on a busy street, or the low thump of a neighbors stereo, our ears are constantly bombarded with anxiety inducing noise.

The dental office is no exception.  The unfortunate realty is that dental care requires the use of tools that create high-pitched and loud noise.  The drill is the common culprit, the immediately identifiable high pitched whirred is very annoying even for dentists and assistants who use the tools ever day.  The screeching sound of ultrasonic scalers on teeth is nearly as bad.

From the acoustics perspective there are different options available to provide relief.  The introduction of electronic handpieces is certainly one avenue.  While quiet, the cost for these units can leave them out of reach for many practices.

Another technology currently popular in consumer electronics is active noise control (ANC).  Using in the form of large headphone, this technique has the amazing ability to greatly reduce many sounds such as HVAC noise, jet engines etc.  There are drawbacks however.  Performance of ANC systems decrease as the frequencey (or pitch) of the noise increases.  One system we tested gave a noise reduction performance of ~10 dB at 300 Hz.  With dental handpiece noise capable of sound in excess of 25,000 Hz, ANC is just simply not robust enough to do the job effectively.

AudioSedation uses a wholely different technique to achieve noise relived.  Commonly called noise masking, this method allows for a variety of sounds controlled.  Noise masking works by covering a disturbing sound with one that is more positive or non-obtrusive.  In the case of dental noise we developed a special blend of white noise and nature sounds and optimized this mix to cover the offending sounds of a dental office.

With AudioSedation, the noise of a drill or other handpiece is much less apparent.  In addition, the patient has a postive sound that serves as a mental escape they can enjoy during their appointment.  The best evidence of the effectiveness of our method in the comments from patients who have used the system, a selection of these are featured in videos on our website.

Curtis Carroll, M.S.
Mechanical Engineer
Acoustics and Noise Control
b-Calm llc