When you need dental care, we strive to provide you with the best treatment possible. Our goal is to help ensure optimal oral health and comfort. We utilize some of the latest technology the dental field offers to achieve these goals.
Here at Advanced Dental Associates, we use lasers to make some of our general dental care options less painful and more comfortable.
What are the benefits of laser dentistry?
Laser dentistry uses focused light beams to perform procedures with extreme precision, offering several key advantages over traditional drills and scalpels:
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Less Pain and Anxiety: Lasers eliminate the loud noise and vibration of traditional drills. This drastically reduces patient anxiety and often eliminates the need for local anesthesia injections.
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Minimized Bleeding: The high-energy beam seals blood vessels instantly as it cuts, resulting in significantly less bleeding and swelling during soft-tissue procedures.
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Faster Healing: Because lasers cause minimal trauma to surrounding areas, tissues regenerate quickly, reducing post-operative discomfort and downtime.
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Preserves Healthy Tissue: Exceptional precision allows dentists to target specific decay or infected gums while leaving adjacent healthy tooth and bone structures completely untouched.
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Lower Infection Risk: The thermal energy of the laser sterilizes the treatment site by destroying bacteria, significantly reducing the chance of post-operative complications.
How does Laser Dentistry work?
The laser is an acronym. It stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. It is a tool that emits a very thin, concentrated light beam. A reaction occurs once the laser comes into contact with your hard or soft tissue. This reaction then allows for tissue removal and tissue reshaping, enabling us to perform a variety of different procedures without the use of a scalpel.
Soft Tissue Lasers (Gums)
Utilizing Diode or CO2 wavelengths, these are highly absorbed by hemoglobin and melanin. As the laser glides through gum tissue, the intense thermal energy vaporizes the cellular water of the soft tissue to slice through it. Simultaneously, the heat cauterizes blood vessels and seals nerve endings, which minimizes bleeding and eliminates the need for traditional stitches.
Hard Tissue Lasers (Teeth and Bone)
Typically utilizing Erbium wavelengths, these lasers are highly absorbed by water and hydroxyapatite. When directed at a cavity, the laser energy instantly vaporizes the water molecules trapped within the decayed tooth structure. This rapid vaporization creates microscopic, controlled micro-explosions that cleanly disintegrate the decay while leaving the healthy, mineral-rich enamel entirely untouched.
Is laser treatment safe?
While dental lasers have yet to receive the ADA seal, they have received approval from the FDA. They are considered safe for use. We are also highly trained and experienced in using dental lasers and can take the necessary precautions to ensure your safety during your treatment.
For more information on laser dentistry and to find out if treatment with a dental laser is right for you, call Advanced Dental Associates at (726) 222-3384 today or schedule an appointment online.