5 ways dental lasers are used to treat patients

In the field of laser dentistry, patients and dentists are seeing benefits associated with the advancements in laser technology. Soft-tissue lasers cause far less patient discomfort with the ability to achieve simultaneous cutting and coagulation.

The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the use of dental lasers in more than 20 dental procedures.

Periodontal Treatment - The laser is used to remove bacteria in patients with periodontal disease. According to Dr. Chuck Laun, DDS, The diode laser targets just the diseased tissue around the teeth and vaporizes it. It leaves the healthy tissue alone. You can use it with little to no pain, and it heals within four to seven days.

Before the introduction of laser dentistry, dentists often would treat periodontal disease with antibiotics.

Excisional and Incisional Biopsies - Lasers can be used to remove a small piece of tissue so it can be examined for cancer.

Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures - Dentists can use a laser to improve the look of their patients' teeth by removing part of the tissue to make the teeth match in size.

Impression Taking - When used to create a trough around prepared teeth, lasers also can improve the quality of daily impression taking, resulting in impressions that are cleaner and more accurate.

Gingivectomies - Soft-tissue lasers not only give practitioners the ability to precisely complete routine procedures performed in general practice, but also many procedures they previously would have referred to specialists. They are particularly useful for gingivectomies to facilitate caries removal and enhance a smile’s esthetics in a minimally invasive way.

There are other benefits, too. "You can use it around metal, so you can use it on patients with implants or braces, which you couldn't do with electrosurge technology because it would spark," said Dr. Laun in an interview with Coast Dental.