Electric and Magnetic Fields in Dentistry

• The presentation is an introduction to electric and magnetic fields in dentistry in 2025.
• Electricity plays a vital role in medicine both inside and on the surface of the body.
• The presentation explores how electricity and magnetism effect medicine.
• Electricity effects everything from the control of our nerves, muscles, and organs to the therapeutic uses of electric fields.
• Electric fields are a fundamental aspect of the natural environment.
• Electric fields are invisible forces that permeate everything everywhere.
• Electric fields are associated with technology, electricity, and play a crucial role in the functioning of the human body.

Electric Field Sources

• High-voltage power lines carry electricity from power plants, creating electric fields but are relatively weak.
• Electrical appliances like refrigerators and televisions generate electric fields, produced by electricity flow, extending a short distance.
• Electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops emit electrical fields due to electrical circuits. The fields are relatively weak compared to power lines, but can still impact bodies during extended use.

Minimizing Exposure

• Maintain a safe distance from high-voltage power lines and electrical substations, as electric field strength decreases rapidly with distance.
• Limit exposure duration to electronic devices, especially when close to the body. Take breaks to allow the body to rest from the electric fields.
• Use shielding materials like metal screens or special fabrics to reduce exposure by blocking or redirecting the electric fields away from the body.

Effects on the Human Body

• Low-level electric fields have minimal direct effects on the human body.
• Extremely high levels, such as those during electrical accidents or lightning strikes, can cause severe injuries, burns, tissue damage, and death.
• Indirect effects are primarily resulted from electric fields interaction with other environmental factors or the body's electrical systems.

Direct Effects

• At low levels, electric fields have minimal effects on the human body. Electric fields from household appliances or power lines are too weak to cause immediate harm.
• At extremely high levels that are experienced during electrical accidents/lightning strikes electric fields can cause severe injuries, burns, tissue damage, and even death. High levels can disrupt normal electrical activity, leading to adverse effects.

Indirect Effects

• The influences of electric fields arise from interactions with environmental factors or the electrical systems of the body.
• Electric fields can influence the distribution of charged particles in the air, affecting aerosols or airborne contaminants.
• Electric fields can interact with the body’s nervous, cardiovascular, and muscular systems, with both positive and negative effects.
• Interacting with internal systems can range from affecting sensory perception to muscle contraction.
• The body's electrical systems are reactive to external electrical fields

Electric Fields and Cell Behavior

• Fibroblasts are responsible for producing extracellular matrix components.
• Electrical stimulation can enhance fibroblast migration and proliferation, leading to accelerated wound closure.
• Keratinocytes: Electrical stimulation promotes migration and proliferation, which facilitates re-epithelialization and reduces healing time.
• Endothelial Cells: Electric fields encourage endothelial cell migration and tube formation, assisting in the growth of a vascular network in wounds.

Electric Fields and the Nervous System

• Electric fields can affect sensory perception, altering touch, taste, and smell.
• Electric fields can also influence the excitation of nerve cells, leading to increased firing rates and altered neural activity.
• When nerve cells are exposed to an electrical field they become more excitable, resulting in increased firing rates and altered neural activity.
• This effect has been utilized in medicine for deep brain stimulation for neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

Electric Fields and the Cardiovascular System

• Electric fields can influence the heart's rhythm, potentially leading to irregular heartbeats or arrhythmias.
• Electric stimulation techniques, like cardiac pacing, can regulate heart electrical activity and restore normal rhythm.

Electric Fields and Muscles

• Muscles can be influenced by electric fields causing stimulation.
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) involve the application of electric currents to specific muscles or nerve pathways.
• Electrical currents can promote muscle activation, improve blood circulation, and aid in muscle recovery.
• Electrical stimulation can avoid muscle atrophy, improve muscle strength/coordination, and facilitate recovery after injuries/surgeries.

Electric Fields and the Brain

• The brain relies on electrical signaling. Electrical fields can influence functioning and have implications on cognitive enhancement
• Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), involve the application of electric currents to the scalp.
• Electrical magnetic fields can modulate brain activity.

Electric Signals in Neurons

• Neurons communicate via electrical signals named action potentials. Action potentials are created by the movement of ions across the cell membrane.
• Resting neurons are negatively charged inside.
• When neurons receive signals, ion channels open, allowing positive ions like sodium and potassium ions to move in and out. A process called depolarization. Depolarization if it reaches a certain threshold, triggers action potential.
• The action potential travels the axon. At the axon terminal, it is converted into a chemical signal to communicate with the next neuron.

Effects of Electrical Fields on Neurons

• Electrical fields can affect neurons changing their behavior.
• The impact relies on field, strength, frequency and exposure.
• Low-frequency electrical fields can increase neuronal excitability.
• High-frequency electrical fields can decrease neuronal activity and reduce firing rates.

Electrical Fields and the Human Body

• Electrical fields can provoke small electrical currents in the tissues, potentially interfering with the body’s electrical system.
• Electrosensitivity is a sensation where people experience tingling/ prickling their skin when exposed to strong electrical fields.
• Electric fields can generate heat in the body’s tissues, and prolonged exposure to strong fields may cause tissue damage.
• Medical devices such as pacemakers and ICDs can be interrupted with strong electrical fields which rely on electrical signals to regulate heart rhythm.

Electric Stimulation

• Electrotherapy is a non-invasive medical technique that uses electric fields to stimulate parts of the body for therapeutic purposes.
• Electric stimulation sends low-level electrical currents to targeted areas with a medical device connected to electrodes on the skin .
• The currents interact with the body's electrical signals, influencing nerve activity, promoting muscle contractions, bloodflow, and the release of natural pain-relieving substances.

Applications of Electric Stimulation

• It is affective for chronic pain. It stimulates the nerves to relieve pain signals. It can reduce musculoskeletal, neuropathic, and postoperative pain, and may reduce the need for pain medications.
• Electric stimulation promotes muscle contractions to help prevent muscle atrophy, benefiting individuals with muscle weakness or loss of function
• It accelerates wound healing by increasing blood flow and promoting growth factor production, aiding tissue repair/regeneration
• It is used to improve nerve function, particularly in conditions like peripheral neuropathy in the extremities. It helps resolve symptoms such as numbness, tingling, and pain.

Applications of Electric Fields in Medicine

• Cardiac pacing uses electrical stimulation in cardiac to regulate the heart’s rhythm in patients with arrhythmias.
• Electrical stimulation is used to treat neurological disorders with deep brain stimulation.
• Muscle activation and aid in muscle recovery after injury is promoted with electrical stimulation.
• Electric fields stimulate bone growth for bones that are healing and for bone graphs.

Safety Considerations

• Avoid high voltage with power lines and electrical equipment.
• Follow doctor's instructions if you use medical devices that rely on electrical stimulation
• Follow the exposure limits in electrical fields