Top Benefits of Laser Dentistry: 

1.    There is potentially a decreased need for sutures and anesthesia with soft tissue lasers.

2.    Laser dentistry is a minimally invasive procedure that typically causes less pain during the sessions, reducing the patient's reliance on anesthesia.

3.    Laser dentistry has minimal side effects like pain, bleeding, and other discomforts, as it does not require a conventional drill or suture. In many cases, it is possible to use less anesthetic and often no anesthetic at all.

4.    The chances of bacterial infections are also less or negligible, as laser effectively sterilizes the area.

5.    Laser dentistry has one key benefit: it accelerates wound healing faster, and tissue can regenerate.

6.    There is very less or negligible chance of surrounding tissue damage with laser dentistry procedures.

7.    Laser helps remove tooth decay more precisely than a dentist using a drill.

8.    The use of lasers in cosmetic dentistry is proven to preserve the healthy aspects of a tooth during cavity removal.

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Enlisting Dental Procedures Enhanced by Laser Technology:

   Gum Contouring/ reshaping: Laser dentistry works great in contouring and reshaping the gums. However, patients who may have excess gum tissue, causing a gummy smile, can be the best candidate for laser dentistry. Moreover, the laser is used successfully to correct irregular front teeth and depigmented dark gums, improving the overall smile appearance.

•       Removal of oral growths: Laser dentistry removes the excess gum tissue over an unerupted tooth, small tags, and growths called fibromas.

•       Fix a tongue tie: Laser dentistry fixes the movement of a patient's tongue or causes their gums to recede can be released.

•       Address periodontal disease: Laser dentistry can help remove debris between your teeth and gums and alleviate the concerns of bleeding gums, gum recession, and loss of teeth.

•       Relieve the pain of cold sores and fever blisters: Laser dentistry provides prompt relief from cold sores and fever blisters.

•       Address decayed teeth: Laser dentistry can effectively prepare cavities for filling without injections.

•       Prepare and Disinfect Root Canals: Laser can prepare cavities, contour, and clean root canals.

•       Disinfect Sockets of Extracted Teeth: Laser dentistry procedures can be performed with minimal or no use of antibiotics, which helps diabetic patients.

•       Treat Cardiac Patients: Laser dentistry can be a preferred option for those struggling with heart ailments and taking anticoagulants (blood thinning), as the patients are not required to stop taking medications before undergoing any laser dentistry procedures, thereby reducing the risks of a medical emergency.

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LASER Dentistry leaves minimal discomforts and Maximum Results:

Since laser dentistry procedures come into the non-surgical option of dental services, it is minimally invasive. It may leave less pain or minor discomforts subjected to the type of laser procedure performed and the patient's sensitivity level to the laser light; most often, it does not even require any shot of injection or anesthetic. However, a minimally invasive laser leaves minor discomforts or side effects post-op if a patient follows the post-instructions suggested by their board-certified dentist. As far as output is concerned, the laser helps achieve the maximum results by removing excess tissue, lengthening crowns, or releasing too tight muscle attachments. Laser needs no sutures, so patients can expect less bleeding during and after surgery and less swelling overall, resulting in easy treatment without the hassle of risks or unwanted discomforts. Patients dealing with diabetes, heart ailments, or any chronic diseases are not required to stop their medicines before undergoing the laser dental procedures, and the procedure session can be completed in a quite single session, unlike more than one visit with conventional dental procedures. In addition, the laser can remove decay more precisely while preserving your natural teeth. It can save you from unwanted discomforts, frequent visits to the clinic, and the cost of bridges, dentures, and implants.

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TYPES OF LASERS USED IN DENTISTRY

The two main types of lasers dentists use during laser procedures are hard tissue and soft tissue lasers. Each laser uses a different wavelength that makes it appropriate for cutting into that specific type of tissue. This works because each kind of tissue absorbs wavelengths of light in different ways. By altering the light’s wavelength (and sometimes pulse) scientists have figured out how to craft lasers with light wavelengths compatible with the tissues in your mouth.

Hard Tissue Lasers

A hard tissue laser is used primarily for your teeth. The wavelength of one of these lasers cuts through both water and bone, specifically the calcium phosphate that’s in your bones and your teeth. These lasers can very accurately cut into your teeth, removing small amounts for shaping purposes or in preparation for procedures. Hard tissue lasers are used for:

Detecting cavities.

Dealing with tooth sensitivity.

Preparing teeth for dental fillings.

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APPLICATIONS OF LASER DENTISTRY: HOW ARE LASER TREATMENTS PERFORMED?

It is worth noting that laser dentistry is significantly used for two types of procedures, i.e., hard tissue and soft tissue. The hard tissue involves the concerns associated with teeth; on the other hand, soft tissue refers to the gums.

When we talk about common hard tissue concerns, it includes the following procedures:

•       Cavity detection: It is easier to detect cavities early with the help of lasers by finding evidence of tooth decay.

•       Tooth preparations and dental filling: Laser dentistry uses a patented technology to perform a wide range of dental procedures involving laser trauma to teeth and gums than conventional dental treatment procedures using a drill or scalpel. However, there is no need for local anaesthesia and drills, and lasers can simply kill bacteria in cavities so efficiently that they help promote good dental health in the long term.

•       Treating tooth sensitivity: Dental lasers can help seal the tubules on the tooth's root, resulting in improved tooth sensitivity issues due to shifts in temperature from hot to cold or sensitivity to hot and cold.

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Common soft tissue procedures include:

•       Treating a "gummy smile": Laser is specifically used to reshape gum tissue and treat the concerns of a gummy smile, in which the gum length covers much of the tooth.

•       Crown lengthening: Lasers help reshape gum tissue and bone for healthier tooth structure, assisting with restorations on the teeth.

•       Treating tongue frenulum attachment: Those with thick or tight frenulum may benefit from laser frenectomy. The frenulum is the fold of skin under the front part of the tongue that anchors to the mouth floor. However, laser frenectomy helps those children whose restricted frenulum causes them to have difficulty breastfeeding or speech impediment.

•       Removing soft tissue folds: Laser helps remove soft tissue folds from ill-fitting dentures without invasive interventions.

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Other laser procedures include:

Laser dentistry helps in many ways and is employed across a variety of procedures associated with aesthetic and functional concerns and so laser dentistry also employs to address/ improve the following concerns:

•       Viewing tissues: Optical coherence tomography allows a dentist to see inside a tooth or gum tissue safely.

•       Removing benign tumors: Laser helps remove tumors from the palate, gums, sides of the lips, and cheeks through a non-invasive method.

•       Alleviating obstructive sleep apnoea: Sleep apnoea is usually caused by ingrown throat tissue, resulting in obstructive breathing. Laser can help relieve sleep apnoea by reshaping the throat with laser light through a pain-and-suture-free method.

•       TMJ (temporomandibular joint) treatment: Laser helps reduce pain and inflammation in the joint.

•       Nerve regeneration: Laser can cause regeneration of damaged blood vessels, nerves, and scars.

•       Treating cold sores: Laser helps reduce pain and minimize the healing period.

•       Teeth whitening: Laser helps teeth whitening by generating a safe amount of heat to enhance the efficacy of whitening agents. The laser can speed up the bleaching process during teeth-whitening sessions and facilitate the whitening process with a more result-oriented approach.

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Applications of Laser Dentistry in the context of precision in dental procedures:

Laser dentistry is one of the latest techniques available today to treat dental concerns, both aesthetic and functional. Laser uses patented technology that pairs laser energy and a gentle spray of water to perform a wide range of dental procedures. Laser technology involves highly concentrated light energy sent through an optical fiber to its handpiece. The board-certified, skilled dentist uses the handpiece to aim laser energy precisely at the targeted areas, correcting or addressing the concerns associated with teeth, gums, soft tissue, and hard tissue. Laser dentistry is significant in repairing damaged and decayed teeth and treating gum diseases and other soft tissue in the mouth safely and in a result-centric approach.

Regarding precautions involved in applying laser dentistry, it is worth noting that since laser light can harm the eyes, wearing special protective glasses is mandatory for your dentist and anyone else in the treatment room. 

Removing Benign Oral Tumours.

Dentists Choose Laser Dentistry Because Of Distinct Benefits That Make The Procedures Go More Smoothly And Reduce Discomfort And Healing Time For Patients.

•             Patients are less likely to require sutures

•             Anaesthesia may not be necessary

•             The laser will sterilize the gums, making infection less likely

•             Less damage to gums shortens the healing time

•             Patients lose less blood than in traditional surgery

Lasers deliver energy and heat in the form of light, and their uses in dentistry range from cleaning to removing tooth decay. A dental laser can also cut or eliminate tissue, such as gum tissue, when focused on it. This works because infrared light is easily absorbed by water, and gum tissue consists largely of water. Therefore, a dentist or an oral surgeon might use lasers when altering a patient’s gum line.

Dentists can also use lasers to treat gum disease because their concentrated heat can kill bacteria. In other situations, lasers help create brighter smiles. The tooth-bleaching chemicals used to whiten teeth are even more potent when exposed to the heat from a dental laser. Similarly, that heat can harden and “cure” a new filling that has been placed.

Many different types of lasers can now be found in dentists’ offices, including short-pulsed erbium: yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Er: YAG) lasers for gum resurfacing, carbon dioxide lasers for oral surgery and Argon lasers for curing fillings.