What is Laser Dentistry?

Laser dentistry is a very effective way to perform dental procedures. What makes laser dentistry so important is the fact that this method gives dentists the ability to control the power output and the duration of exposure on the tissue. This allows the treatment to focus on a specific area without damaging surrounding tissue. Safe and comfortable makes this procedure highly recommended for anxious patients and for dentists. More and more dentists are using this procedure due to new breakthroughs in technology, connivance, comfort, and recovery time.    

There are many different benefits to having laser dentistry. Anesthesia may not have to be used on certain procedures, and stitches are not needed when soft tissue lasers are being performed. Damage to the surrounding tissue is greatly decreased, which helps wounds and tissues heal and regenerate faster than other dental work. The high-energy beams from dental lasers also help minimize bleeding and bacterial infections, due to the beams ability to sterilize the area.

The two main types of laser dentistry are hard tissue and soft tissue procedures; hard tissue laser dentistry procedures which are used on our teeth and soft tissue laser dentistry procedures which are used on our gums. Hard tissue procedures consist of cavity detectors, dental fillings, and checking tooth sensitivity. Cavity detectors are used for early detection of cavities by reading the by-products produced by tooth decay. Lasers are also used in fillings to help kill bacteria located in the infected area or cavity. Hard tissue lasers also work extremely well in testing tooth sensitivity, by sealing tubules located on the root of the tooth.

Soft tissue laser dentistry procedures are made up of crown lengthening, gummy smiles, muscle attachments, and soft tissue folds. Crown lengthening and gummy smile procedures use lasers to reshape gum tissue and bone to expose more of the tooth structure. Muscle attachments, or frenula, are commonly used for patients with speech impediments, babies who are unable to properly breast feed due to limited tongue movement, and for children with a tight frenulum. Soft tissue folds, or epulis, are used to remove the soft tissue folds often caused by incorrect fitting dentures.