Lasers

I’ve been asked about my opinion of using lasers for gum treatment in the past and so I thought I could address it here. First of all, I don’t use lasers in my practice and don’t plan on it until the companies that sell them lower the price for it. Is it worth having to pay upwards to $100,000 and then have that transferred to hopefully having my patients pay for the costs? Probably not.

Is the correct laser frequency being used? This is an important question you might want to ask your dentist who may suggest laser treatment. Nd:Yag is the one used for periodontal purposes. Carbon dioxide lasers which are sold at a cheaper price can be used for other means such as removal of excess gum tissue or unusual looking bumps in the mouth, but may not be as effective in other periodontal gum treatment.

Lasers have had an interesting history and are being used for almost everything in the medical and dental field. We know how effective it is especially in eye surgery, correcting near sightedness (think Lasix). But has it been as effective as our traditional surgical methods of using a scapel blade? One advantage in lasers is the clean field. It doesn’t bleed as much when we do the procedure. The patient might not complain about pain after the procedure. Besides that, there haven’t been much differences in results. I’ve personally seen patients that have undergone laser treatment and then they come to see me not too long afterwards. Where laser treatment may have stopped the progression of the disease similar to traditional methods, the disease still remains shortly after treatment. This is because their daily habits of dental hygiene have not changed.

Sometimes we think that treatment will cure us from our disease especially when it is technologically advanced and that we’ll no longer have it again. Gum disease doesn’t work that way. We are always in a battle with bacteria and viruses (yes viruses!) in our mouth. We forget that anytime treatment is done, rehabilitation must follow afterwards. To make your gums healthy, good hygiene must be followed for a lifetime.

So if anyone asks me if lasers in gum treatment work? My response is what type of laser is being used? If it is Nd:Yag then go for it, just be willing to pay the extra money for treatment. But if you wanted to save some money, the traditional method works just as well.