Lasers have many uses in today’s dental office. They are used for both hard and soft tissue procedures and can do things we can’t accomplish with traditional therapies. A laser is a device that uses light energy to perform work including more precise hard tissue cutting capabilities. Lasers are unique because they can treat targeted tissue while leaving surrounding tissue unaffected. Cavity preparation can be minimized in most cases.
One of the biggest advantages of hard tissue laser therapy is a reported analgesia effect making the use of anesthetic unnecessary in many cases. Since hard tissue lasers are used in a non-contact manner there is also less heat and vibration produced than traditional methods such as the dental drill.
While lasers have many uses in dentistry they are not used for every procedure. Dr. Burdette will decide if laser therapy is appropriate for your particular procedure. If, for instance, removal of metal filling material is necessary, a laser cannot be used for this procedure. |
