Lots of Gain With No Pain: The Benefits of Laser Dentistry
It may seem brand-new to you, but dental professionals have been using lasers to provide minimally invasive treatment options for a wide variety of oral health issues since the mid-1900s. Dental laser technology has, of course, undergone significant changes since then, leading to even more improvement in treatment outcomes.
These days, in the hands of a skilled professional, advanced laser technology provides quality care for everything from teeth whitening to gum surgery and tooth restoration. And in many cases, it’s a better choice than traditional dental treatment.
The dentists at The Dental Studio in Summit and Westfield, New Jersey, are well-known for their skill and expertise in all facets of oral health care, including laser dentistry. They often recommend laser dentistry as a better choice than traditional methods for treating a wide variety of dental issues because it’s very effective, greatly decreases or even eliminates your discomfort following a procedure, and speeds healing time after surgery or tooth repair.
So, what exactly is laser dentistry?
In many cases, lasers can effectively replace or greatly reduce the need for drills and scalpels used in dentistry. Medical lasers, the type used by dentists, provide an extremely focused beam of light that creates enough energy to alter or remove tissue.
In dentistry, depending on the treatment, we use hard tissue and soft tissue lasers. Each provides a specific wavelength that replaces drills and scalpels for preparing your teeth for fillings or making incisions in your gums. We can also use hard tissue lasers to detect tooth decay at its earliest stages when treatment is simple and often the most effective.
What are the benefits of laser dentistry?
Beyond eliminating the need for drills and scalpels, lasers are very precise and efficient. Thus, treatments such as tooth preparation for fillings or gum repair are typically quicker and result in less discomfort than traditional dentistry methods.
With laser dentistry:
- You’re less likely to require sutures after surgery because the laser seals incisions
- Anesthesia may not be necessary
- Bacterial infection is less likely because the laser sterilizes tissue
Laser dentistry also offers:
- Improved surgical precision that leads to less damage to surrounding tissue
- Faster healing time and stimulation of natural tissue regeneration
- Less blood loss than with traditional surgery because the laser promotes blood clotting
What conditions can you treat with laser dentistry?
We often recommend lasers rather than drills to prepare teeth for fillings or crowns. Lasers are also very effective for treating:
- Various stages of periodontal disease
- Tooth sensitivity
- Gummy smiles, which occur when your gum tissue excessively covers your teeth
We also use lasers for crown lengthening, a procedure that reshapes gum and bone tissue to improve tooth restoration/crown placement.
And if you’re having difficulty with ill-fitting dentures or bridges, we may recommend laser dentistry to remove excess soft tissue folds quickly and without the need for sutures.
Lasers also help speed up the bleaching process during professional teeth-whitening, which means less chair time for you.
Lasers can’t replace traditional dentistry methods completely. Teeth that already contain fillings, for instance, are not amenable to laser dentistry. But laser dentistry is often the preferred method for many of the treatments we offer here at The Dental Studio.
You can rely on our skill and expertise with laser technology as well as our commitment to providing the most effective treatment available for your oral health care. Schedule your visit today with one of our top-rated dentists, and feel free to ask for more details regarding laser dentistry and how it can help improve your smile and your treatment experience.