I recently attended a local dental society meeting and as
usual, I greeted and talked to many of my colleagues. One colleague in particular which is a good
periodontist started a conversation that made me feel good. He said that he remembered a question that I
had asked him several years ago at another meeting. The question I asked him was, what was his
opinion on the use of lasers to treat periodontal disease? At that time there were very few, (maybe one)
studies from a reputable source about the use of lasers, in the treatment of
periodontal pockets in a non-surgical procedure. I had bought an expensive laser and was very
interested in the potential benefits to my patients, and anticipated that they
would welcome the opportunity to treat their condition with advanced technology
that could avoid the need to do periodontal surgery, promote shorter healing
periods and cause less discomfort than the conventional surgical modalities. He told me, that he did not believe that lasers could be used as
an alternative to surgery and he would need to see more proper studies
before he would consider purchasing such
expensive equipment. This time he said
that he now was a believer. His group
had purchased the NdYag laser and “it had changes his practice”.
I have been using the Er,Cr,YSGG laser for many years now
and have seen excellent results with different procedures. The laser allows me to do procedures such as
crown lengthening without the trauma to the tissues of laying a flap and
exposing the bone. The ability to do
this as a “closed procedure” means that the patient will experience less
discomfort and will heal quicker.
Similar results are obtained for other surgical procedures,
such as the removal of soft tissue lesions for biopsy, gingivectomies, second
stage exposure of dental implants and treatment of localized periodontal
pockets in patients with periodontitis.
In the case of patients with periodontitis, this minimally invasive therapy may require
more that one visit over several months and excellent oral hygiene to treat the
pockets.
In summation, Laser use in dentistry has not become
widespread because of the high cost of the equipment (and maintenance) and
misconceptions about the technology from lack of adequate studies in the
literature, but new studies are being conducted and the advantages of this
modality of therapy are already evident.
West Palm Beach
Dentist Carlos Boudet, DDS, DICOI
1840 Forest Hill Blvd, Suite 204
West Palm Beach, Florida 33406
Phone: (561) 968 6022
1840 Forest Hill Blvd, Suite 204
West Palm Beach, Florida 33406
Phone: (561) 968 6022
Website: http://www.boudetdds.com
Implant Blog: http://www.palm-beach-implants.com
