Laser Dental Cleaning
Dentistry continues to evolve every year to benefit our patients and the work flow of the dentist. These changes are meant to help us provide the best quality of care to our patients. Dental Designs of White Marsh has been going through numerous changes in the types of tools and techniques that we use to improve our care of our patients to help ensure that they have proper oral care throughout their lifetime. The newest edition to Dental Design of White Marsh’s technology arsenal is our soft tissue laser. Soft tissue lasers are one of the recent tools that dentists are using to increase their efficiency and precision. There are numerous applications for this advanced tool which result in patient benefit. LESS PAIN? One of a dentist’s greatest challenges is making sure to alleviate any pain that may be involved with our patient care. Patient’s still have the option to use anesthesia if they prefer to receive it, but at low levels of usage the use of soft tissue lasers may not require anesthesia. Instead of traumatizing tissue with procedures like “cord packing” we are able to quickly and efficiently use a soft tissue laser to provide retraction and hemostasis at the same time, with very limited post-operative soreness. Because the lasers cut at a very rapid rate, there is minimal scarring left on the oral tissue. MORE VERSATILE? Soft tissue lasers have many indications in the field of dentistry, which is why it has such a growing fan base. Lasers can be used for periodontal procedures like gently removing excess gum tissue from a gummy smile to crown lengthening to improve the placement of a crown. It can be used to remove excess frenum attachments in children to even removing cold sores that are present. Because the laser is able to stop bleeding during use it can also work to sterilize targeted areas in the mouth that contain bacteria. The soft tissue laser is safe to use around most dental restorations such as metal/porcelain crowns, gold/alloy restorations, and even on implants! The use of a laser around implants will even produce lower heart and speed healing time compared to traditional surgical instruments. SAFE FOR EVERYONE? The use of soft tissue lasers has been deemed to be safe by the FDA for both children and adults. As stated above while causing minimal bleeding, soft tissues are used to cauterize blood vessels to even stop bleeding during surgical procedure. This causes patients to experience less swelling and discomfort post procedure. Moreover, the soft tissue is not only safe on dental restorations, but will not harm hard dental tissue or dental pulp in the mouth. COMFORTABLE TOOL? Many patients can pinpoint their fears of dental work to the noise coming from the dental hand pieces and tools that we use. The soft tissue laser used in office is extremely quiet with only a soft humming noise. How relaxing! Many patients feel much more comfortable in a quieter dental office, an added advantage to our laser! One reason we can offer such a comfortable tool is that it is very compact and portable as well. This increases efficiency during our dental procedures making them more convenient for our patients. The laser is not bulky, so we can focus on the dental work that is being performed instead of working around a large instrument.