Laser Gum Surgery & Gum Disease
Just in recent years, laser gum surgery has grown in popularity, frequency, and efficiency for treating moderate to more severe gum disease. Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
Your dentist may recommend laser surgery as an additional step after a traditional scaling and root planing treatment. They might recommend laser gum surgery instead of non-laser surgeries, like gum flap surgery. Laser gum surgery is also used for other dental treatments. These procedures also include gum contouring to address a gummy smile for cosmetic reasons.
There is one thing we all might dread the most, and that is being told by your dentist that the final solution to resolve your receding teeth and gums is to have them all extracted and replaced with dentures. This is life-changing and not something that anyone plans for.
There are now a variety of treatments for improving the negative effects of gum recession, which, as of just recently, also includes a new technique called the pinhole surgical technique.
How Does Laser Gum Surgery Work?
Lasers use powerful, specific, pinpointed light beams of thermal energy that will accomplish multiple tasks during gum surgery. Lasers will:
- Both cut and remove all infected and diseased tissue.
- Coagulate blood vessels to create and form blood clots to deliver stem cells for rapid healing.
- Kill and eliminate all germs and bacteria.
- Sterilize the entire damaged area.
Lasers work by generating an energy change within the atoms. The laser light shifts those atoms from their current state of rest to a level called the excited state. This results in atoms producing energy called spontaneous emission.
When the atoms return to their resting state, they emit particles of light called photons. This process provides the necessary energy to perform certain functions, like cutting tissue without the use of a blade.
Procedure for Laser Gum Surgery
Laser gum surgery is an innovative technological new treatment to address gum disease. Here is what you might expect for your laser gum surgery:
- Your dentist places the tiny fiber optic tip of the laser at the top of the periodontal pocket around a tooth. The laser is about the size of three human hairs.
- The laser uses specific pinpointed light to remove any diseased gum tissue from around the pocket. The laser is literally designed to identify and remove just diseased tissue. It will not remove or damage healthy gum tissue. The laser will also remove disease-causing bacteria from the periodontal pocket.
- When the pocket is clear of damaged tissue and bacteria, the laser is briefly set aside.
- Your dentist might use an ultrasonic cleaning tool to remove tartar and calcifications with sound waves.
- The laser is then returned into the pocket to finish deep cleaning and eliminate all remaining debris.
- The laser also sterilizes tissue and bone and stimulates the formation of a blood clot. The blood clot will accelerate healing and help healthy gum tissue reattach to the tooth. This eliminates the need for any sutures.
A local anesthetic could sometimes be used, and it takes around one hour to complete the process. The treatment will not involve any pain, but just a slight feeling of discomfort.