Laser Dentistry: Enhancing Dental Treatment

Laser dentistry can be a precise and effective way to perform many dental procedures.  This allows for treatment of a highly specific area of focus without damaging surrounding tissues.

If you are an anxious dental patient and are seeking extreme safety and comfort, you might consider visiting Dr. A. J. Boyajian. He has incorporated laser techniques into his practice for over 20 years. It is estimated that only 6 percent of general dentists own a laser for soft-tissue applications.

Dr. Boyajian has been providing his patients with this precision treatment that may minimize pain and recovery time.

Benefits

Procedures performed using soft tissue dental lasers may not require stitches. Certain laser procedures do not even require anesthesia.
Lasers minimize bleeding because of the high energy light beam. The high-energy light beam aids in the clotting of exposed blood vessels.  This aids in inhibiting blood loss.
Bacterial infections are also minimized because the laser sterilizes the area. Damage to surrounding tissue is minimized, so wounds heal faster and tissues can be regenerated.

Types of Dental Lasers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved of a variety of hard and soft tissue lasers for use in the dental treatment of adults and children.

Soft Tissue Lasers

Soft tissue lasers boast a wavelength that is highly absorbable by water and blood. This make them more effective for soft tissue management. Nd:YAG and diode lasers are the most commonly used soft tissue lasers. This may be used as a part of your gum treatment.  They have the ability to kill bacteria and activate the re-growth of tissues. Soft tissue lasers penetrate soft tissue while sealing blood vessels and nerve endings. This is the primary reason why many people experience virtually no pain following the use of a laser.  Also, soft tissue lasers allow tissues to heal faster.

Other lasers provide energy and specific proteins that help the body’s natural ability to use light spectrums to heal damaged cells.

Hard Tissue (Tooth) Procedures

Cavity Detector: Low intensity soft tissue dental lasers may be used for the early detection of cavities.  This is accomplished by reading the by-products produced by tooth decay.

Also, lasers used in dental filling procedures are capable of killing bacteria located in a cavity. It can potentially lead to improved long term tooth restorations. However, dental lasers are not appropriate for the replacement of amalgam fillings, onlays or crowns.

Tooth Sensitivity

Dental lasers may be used to seal tubules (located on the root of the tooth) that are responsible for hot and cold tooth sensitivity.

Soft Tissue (Gum) Procedures

Crown Lengthening

Dental lasers can reshape gum tissue (soft tissue laser) and bone (hard tissue laser) to expose healthier tooth structure. Reshaping provides a stronger foundation for the placement of restorations.

Gummy Smile

Dental lasers can reshape gum tissue to expose healthy tooth structure and improve the appearance of a gummy smile.

Other Applications

Benign Tumors

Dental lasers may be used for the painless and suture-free removal of benign tumors from the gums, palate, sides of cheeks and lips.

Cold Sores

Low intensity dental lasers reduce pain associated with cold sores and minimize healing time.

Nerve Regeneration

Photobiomodulation can be used to regenerate damaged nerves, blood vessels and scars.

Teeth Whitening

Low intensity soft tissue dental lasers may be used to speed up the bleaching process associated with teeth whitening.

Temporomandibular Joint Treatment

Dental lasers may be used to quickly reduce pain and inflammation of the temporomandibular jaw joint. If you choose a laser dentist like Dr. Boyajian, you may find that you feel more comfortable and less anxiety during your treatments.

Dental Laser Therapy for Periodontitis

There are different degrees of gum disease. Sometimes it’s mild, manifesting itself as soft tissue swelling, redness, or sensitivity. Other times it’s severe, probably a case that has been neglected too long. Recessed tissues, deep pockets, extreme pain, bad tastes/smells, and an ongoing infection are indicative of periodontitis.

If you have been diagnosed with periodontitis, your level of treatment will depend on the severity of your case. Obviously, mild cases will heal up quickly if you receive prompt treatment and you take care of yourself. A more serious condition of gum disease could take months to properly recover from. Diseased gums that have shrunken and shriveled off teeth need time and a clean, clean environment in order to grow back and fit snugly around them again.

Conventional periodontal therapy/surgery is effective but invasive. In order to remove diseased tissue, parts of the gums and teeth may be simply cut out instead of treated. Ironically, this kind of treatment leads to a longer, harder recovery and can weaken oral health permanently. Risk of mistakes on the dentist’s part increase as well.

In a holistic practice, however, where a laser is used in conjunction with ozone gas, surgery is almost never necessary. Dental laser wavelengths can be calibrated, in a sense, to perform many different functions ranging from gentle cleaning of diseased tissue — without damaging normal tissues in the same area — to cutting and reshaping of tissue. It is completely non-toxic and much less painful than regular slicing and dicing because of its inherent cauterizing properties. Bacteria cannot survive under a laser’s beam, so the process of sterilization is furthermore simplified, especially with additional blasts of ozone gas. Not to mention, recovery is faster and smoother because of minimal intervention and blood flow stimulation.

Perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with gum disease. During an initial inspection of your periodontal health, the degree of the disease will be evaluated and your individual prognosis will be determined. You’ll be instructed on the steps you must take in order to heal. At your appointment, your mouth and teeth will be cleaned and thoroughly prepared so the environment is in the best possible shape for a temporary “construction zone.”

At the site of treatment, the gum pocket(s) will be separated from the tooth with an instrument, and the laser will be used to clean away the infection and dead/decaying parts of the tooth and gums. All exposed surfaces of the tooth and gums are prepared to bond together again so healing may occur. Blood clotting stimulation may be administered to further speed up healing. The process is quite speedy; most cases can be taken care of in a single appointment and may also leave the patient in conditions good enough to return to work the next day.

As always, however, the best cure for a disease or infection is prevention in the first place. My laser adds a fantastic element of superior dental care to this practice, but as the patient, preventing gum disease by yourself in the first place is the best route to take.

Happy flossing!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Lasers to Treat Gum Disease

I recently purchased a PerioLase dental laser. It’s a fabulous tool.

Periodontitis, or gum disease, happens when a bacterial infection develops between the teeth and gums. Naturally, gums are supposed to fit around the teeth snugly. A shallow pocket, however, does exist between healthy teeth and gums, one that should not be deep, painful, or swollen.

The presence of these pockets is why it’s so important to floss. Too many people are lazy about flossing and/or irrigating. The truth is that food will get stuck in those pockets and literally rot right there in your mouth. Pathogenic bacteria will find that leftover food and feast on it. Unfortunately, surrounding tissues are victimized as well while the body’s immune system tries to eliminate the infection. Oral sensitivity, pain, and bad smells will ensue. It sounds disgusting because it is. So floss!

Treating periodontitis traditionally has required incisions and stitches; that means pain and bleeding. Surgical methods of gum disease therapy are still the norm. The vast majority of dentists don’t care for the cost and training involved in adding a laser to their practice. Their reasoning is that it cannot completely replace a drill, so why bother?

The beauty of laser therapy is that it is clean, quick, and virtually painless. There is little to no need for anesthesia (which, if needed, would be local) and it yields great results. One laser can be adjusted to different strengths for different uses. I’ll go over that and how we’d apply it to real-life situations in the next post.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Periodontal Treatments with Ozone & Dental Lasers

Ozone and dental lasers are very useful for treating periodontal ailments in our office. Gingivitis, most commonly known as gum disease, is most often caused by improper oral hygiene. Gingivitis symptoms are usually red, swollen, or easily bleeding gums. If left untreated, gingivitis will lead to periodontitis, where the infection spreads to the root of the tooth, under the gumline, and begins to eat away everything that holds your tooth in place. This often leads to a painful process of tooth loss.

The combination of ozone and a dental laser in treating gum disease is phenomenal. The ozone continuously keeps the area sterile, while the dental laser precisely targets the infected area with minimal pain or damage to the surrounding tissues. Healing is accelerated, and health is restored.

Dr. Glenn Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Did You Know Dental Lasers…

I know that I love gadgets and high-tech toys, but this is different. Honestly! I bought a Soft Tissue Laser when I saw the vast benefits my patients would receive. I liked the results so much I went out and bought a second one.

So what makes it great? Good question. The largest benefit on every patient that I see is the ability to completely sterilize a tooth prior to filling a cavity or cementing a crown. Did you know that the best cleansing of bacterial growth on a tooth provided by the traditional method only removes 30% of the bacteria? That leaves a whopping 70% of possible infection enclosed in your tooth! This laser gadget, on the other hand, is capable of removing up to 99.9%. This is great news for those of us that are concerned with dental infections.

Of course there are a great many other uses for the dental laser. But now you see why I received both buyer’s therapy and a clinical reason to buy the laser. We all win!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com