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