Why I Use the Rubber Dam

Some of my patients LOVE the rubber dam and a few patients HATE the rubber dam. Every dental student in the United States was trained and required to use a rubber dam in dental school.  95% of practicing dentist give up using the rubber dam once they leave school.

So why do 5% of dentists use a rubber dam?
1. So that they can see what they need to see without  interference from the tongue, lips, cheeks or
    saliva.
2. To place all materials completely dry as required by manufacturers of materials.
3. To prevent injuring the tongue, lips or cheeks
4. To provide a sufficient amount of time to place materials without contamination.

This is a tooth that I fixed today. The reddish/brown mush is tooth decay under a resin (white) filling.
How did the decay get under a new resin filling?
1. Either the dentist could not see the tooth adequately to remove all of the tooth decay or
2. The dentist could not keep the tooth dry enough to adequately bond the new filling to the tooth.

The middle photo shows all the tooth decay removed and the bottom photo shows my completed bonded resin filling.

The more important question is: Why do 95% of dentist refuse to use a rubber dam? There is only one reason:

LAZINESS

Why would anyone select a lazy dentist to take care of them?

Why don't you ask the dentist and THEIR PATIENTS?