Dental Laser Therapy

Westgate SmilesGeneral Dentistry

Dental Laser Therapy

For the past twenty years, dentists and medical professionals alike have been using a series of advanced technologies to find better ways to help repair both oral and dental problems without having to use invasive surgery that involves cutting. One of the more popular methods that dentists have found to be successful in the industry is dental laser therapy. Despite it being used for the last twenty or so years, laser therapy has only recently started to gain some popularity.

Typically, dental laser therapy is less painful and reduces the need for localized anesthesia, minimizes bleeding and swelling during procedures, preserves more of the natural material in a tooth because of a laser’s precision, and helps to ease anxiety in patients who aren’t wholly comfortable with a dental drill. Wounds tend to heal faster when using lasers, and lasers also help to reduce bacterial infections because of the high amount of heat in the beam.


Dental Laser Treatment Is Used For A Variety Of Remedies

  • Gum disease is the most common issue treated with dental laser therapy. Lasers are used to remove bacterial growth around the gums as well as reshape them.

  • Teeth whitening is another area in which dental laser therapy is used. It helps to speed up the process by heating up the peroxide solution sometimes used as a bleaching agent.

  • Tooth decay is one of the leading causes of many dental and oral diseases for our patients. Lasers aid in the process of hardening a filling once a tooth has been filled, and also help repair damaged enamel.

  • Lesion removal is a common practice used to remove lesions to screen for oral cancer. This is one of the early detection methods dentists use and have found to be highly effective.

Pros And Cons Of Dental Laser Therapy

Despite the usefulness of using lasers in the field, it has yet to receive the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Seal of Acceptance. The FDA has approved this therapy, but many feel that laser dental therapy isn’t as cost-efficient. Lasers typically cost more than drills, cannot be used on teeth with fillings already in place, and most procedures in which a laser would be helpful still require the assistance of a drill.