Laser Dentistry
Over the past several years we have seen strong emergence of lasers in the field of dentistry. Lasers are an exceptional modality of treatment for many clinical conditions that dentists treat on a daily basis. They are patient-friendly and offer many advantages over more conventional means of treatment. Lasers are useful in a variety of dental procedures.
The basic principle is the use of light energy instead of rotational forces and sharp blades. Children and adolescents are among the best candidates for laser use, because they are especially distressed by pain, bleeding, incapacitation, and typically need more office visits for extensive post-operative activities. Parents are concerned about loss of school time, interference with extracurricular activities such as sports, and the need for extensive personal support, such as transportation.
When used ethically and efficaciously, there is greater patient acceptance of certain treatments. Patients who experience minimal post-operative discomfort will definitely appreciate the state of the art therapy.
Dental lasers today are small, light weight, highly portable, and increasingly affordable. Lasers in dentistry are here to stay, and we can now say that dentistry has entered an exciting era of high technology.
Some of the procedures where lasers can play a crucial role are:
- Treatment of ulcers
- Control Bleeding (stop blood loss)
- Abscess drainage
- Lip-tie and tongue-tie correction
- Gingivectomy (gum line correction)
- Operculectomy (pain due to wisdom teeth)
