The Benefits of Laser Dentistry Can Leave You Surprised

Would you be surprised if your dentist informed you that he or she can offer a comfortable treatment option for different dental conditions of the hard of soft tissue without using drills and other conventional dental tools? You may perhaps wonder whether the dentist is trying to pull your leg and disbelieve the statements made. However, laser dentistry is indeed making it possible for dentists to provide treatments without using drills or conventional dental instruments for treating problems like tooth sensitivity, gum disease, tooth decay, and teeth whitening.

Lasers became commercially used in dental practices in 1989 for treatments involving the tooth tissue. Presently they are being used for both hard tissue and soft tissue procedures and are gaining popularity among many patients as well as dentists.

Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation is the full definition of the laser. Light energy is created by the instrument in a narrow and focused beam to produce a reaction when it hits the tissue permitting it to remove or shape it.

Lasers are making dental treatments more comfortable, efficient and cost-effective. The FDA approved laser dentistry as an option for many dental treatments. The ADA is still lagging behind and not approved lasers despite being hopeful about the potential in this field.

How Laser Dentistry Treatments Are Performed?

Hard tissue and soft tissue treatments are the most common procedures used by laser dentistry in Holmdel, NJ. When treatments are needed by the teeth it is referred to as hard tissue procedure and the gums are referred to as soft tissue.

Some of the common hard tissue procedures include:

• Detecting cavities. Early detection of cavities is possible by lasers because they can find proof of tooth decay.
• Tooth preparation for dental fillings. When using lasers local anesthesia and drilling are often eliminated because lasers can eradicate the bacteria in the cavity to help in the long-term health of the tooth.
• Tooth sensitivity procedures. Sensitive teeth that cannot withstand hot or cold temperatures can be treated with lasers that seal the tubules of the tooth’s root.

Some popular soft tissue procedures include:

• Altering a gummy smile. Lasers can be used to reshape the gum tissue associated with a gummy smile on which the length of the gums covers a major portion of the tooth.
• Removing the folds of the soft tissue. Removing soft tissue folds from ill-fitting dentures without pain or stitches is possible with lasers.
• Crown lengthening. The soft tissue procedure with lasers can reshape the gum tissue and bone to provide a healthier tooth structure which can help to place restorations on the tooth.

Other general procedures include:

• Viewing the tissues. Doctors can safely see inside a tooth or gum tissue using optical coherence tomography.
• Remove benign tumors. Lasers can be used to remove tumors from the palate, the sides of the lips and cheeks and the gums in a pain-free and suture-free procedure.
• Teeth whitening. The bleaching processes during teeth whitening can be speeded by lasers. They can also be used for procedures of deep cleaning when offering periodontal gum treatment.

The Benefits of Laser Dentistry

Advanced laser dentistry has many benefits as hard tissue lasers can cut through the structure of the tooth and can be used to prepare or shape the teeth for composite bonding. They can also be used to repair fillings that have worn down and to remove some structure of the tooth. Some benefits of laser dentistry include:

• A diminished requirement for stitches with soft tissue lasers.
• Minimized bleeding when treating soft tissue because lasers promote blood clotting.
• The need for anesthesia is eliminated in some procedures.
• The potential for bacterial infections is reduced because the laser sterilizes the site of the procedure.
• Faster healing of the wounds is experienced making it possible for tissue to regenerate.
• Laser procedure may reduce damages caused to the surrounding tissues.

Water and hemoglobin soft tissue lasers and hemoglobin are found in red blood cells as a protein. Lasers are being used to treat periodontitis to kill bacteria and activate tissue regrowth. Nerve endings can be sealed with lasers as they penetrate the tissue. It is the reason why many patients experienced no pain after treatments with lasers.