Dental Lasers

Let’s talk about lasers.  “Laser” is an acronym for Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission Radiation.  First theorized by Alfred Einstein (of course) in 1916, and developed in the early 1960’s, this concentrated beam of light is today used for everything from scanning a purchase at Home Depot (which you can do yourself without the help of a check-out person), to incredibly accurately measuring long distances (like from the earth to the moon), to cutting thick slabs of metal, to doing surgery on hard and soft tissues on the body.

The application determines the type of laser used.  I have been using a “diode” for about two years.  With a wavelength of .830-.980 microns (a micron is one millionth of a meter, and that’s a slightly longer wavelength than can be seen by the naked eye) and generated by an aluminum-gallium-arsenic medium, it’s primarily used for re-contouring gum tissue.

The new, FDA-approved, laser is called a PerioLase.  This light beam is generated by a neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet medium, and has a wavelength of 1.064 microns.  It is essentially a scalpel blade of light.  As it cuts tissue, it also cauterizes the tissue so that there’s almost no bleeding during or after the procedure.  Because it’s less traumatic to the tissue than a knife, there’s far less discomfort afterwards. 

It’s the wide range of uses of this technology that is so exciting for me as a practitioner and you as a patient.  Cold sores can be healed-up far more quickly than just leaving them run their course.  Fever blisters can be stopped before they start.  Little growths in the mouth can be removed much more comfortably.

Here’s the biggest biggie: Gum surgery, which most people who’ve had it will tell you is terribly painful for days or even weeks afterwards, can now be done with almost no post-operative discomfort. It’s much more predictable and reliable because, not only does this laser remove bad tissue, it allows healthy gum tissue to reattach to bone and teeth.  And, because it kills the bacteria that would otherwise remain in the diseased bone under the gums, it allows new bone to grow, which has never been possible before.  This means we can avoid taking teeth out that we couldn’t otherwise save.  How great is that.

The “good old days” weren’t, really, because of the great things technology allows us to do today.