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Applications
The application of lasers in dentistry opens the door for dentists to perform a wide variety of dental procedures they otherwise may not be capable of performing.
Common applications
- Benign Tumors: 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.
- Cavity Detector: Low intensity soft tissue dental lasers may be used for the early detection of cavities by providing a reading of the by-products produced by decay.
- Viewing Tooth and Gum Tissues: Optical Coherence Tomography is a safer way to see inside tooth and gums in real time.
- Cold Sores/ apthous ulcers: Low intensity dental lasers reduce pain associated with cold sores / apthous ulcers and minimize healing time.
- Crown Lengthening: Dental lasers can reshape gum tissue and bone to expose healthier tooth structure. Called crown lengthening, such reshaping provides a stronger foundation for a restoration.
- Dental Fillings: Hard tissue dental lasers may eliminate the need for a local anesthetic injection and the traditional turbine drill. Lasers used in dental filling procedures are capable of killing bacteria located in a cavity and this may lead to better long term tooth restorations.
- Muscle Attachment (Frenula): A laser frenectomy is an ideal treatment option for children who are tongue tied (restricted or tight frenulum) and babies unable to breast feed adequately due to limited tongue movement. A laser frenectomy may also help to eliminate speech impediments.
- Nerve Regeneration: Photobiomodulation can be used to regenerate damaged nerves, blood vessels, and scars.
- Sleep Apnea: In cases where sleep apnea is a result of a tissue overgrowth in areas of the throat (which sometimes occurs with age), a laser assisted uvuloplasty or laser assisted uvula palatoplasty (LAUP) procedure can be performed to reshape the throat and relieve the correlating breathing problems associated with sleep apnea.
- Soft Tissue Folds (Epulis): Dental lasers may be used for the painless and suture-free removal of soft tissue folds often caused by ill-fitting dentures.
- 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.
- Gummy Smile: Dental lasers can reshape gum tissue to expose healthy tooth structure and improve the appearance of a gummy smile.
- 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.
- Incisional and excisional biopsies
Dental lasers are not appropriate to use for the replacement of amalgam fillings, onlays, or crowns.
Soon, dentists may use laser dentistry during a professional dental cleaning to remove tartar and as a replacement for the traditional root planing procedure, which is now done with a surgical instrument called a curette that may damage surrounding tissue. Eventually, laser dentistry could make it possible for dentists to access any part of a tooth, thus replacing the need for the traditional dental drill.