Is Laser Treatment for Your Gums Worth It?

Certain factors like pregnancy, genes, dental trauma, chronic bruxism, smoking, and poor dental hygiene can increase your risk of gum disease. If you’ve been diagnosed with gum or periodontal disease, you might be wondering how you can restore the health of your gums.

When treated promptly and efficiently, you can reverse gum disease. Generally, there are several periodontal treatments based on the severity of your condition. Common treatments include good at-home dental hygiene, professional cleanings, scaling and root planing, antibiotics, and gum surgeries.

Thanks to recent innovations in dentistry, there’s even a better way to treat gum disease. Laser periodontal therapy is an excellent alternative to invasive gum surgeries.

What are Laser Treatments?

Laser treatment uses lasers to treat a wide array of oral conditions. Laser stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The FDA has approved dental laser treatments for:

• Periodontal treatments
• Teeth whitening
• Oral surgery
• Endodontic procedures
• Dental works like gum contouring

Laser Treatments for Gums

For moderate to severe periodontal disease, your dentist might recommend scaling and root planing treatment and surgical options like gum flap surgery, soft tissue grafts, bone grafts, application of tissue-stimulating proteins, and guided tissue regeneration.

Generally, traditional surgeries involve using medical tools like scalpels, which can be messy. Laser treatments use powerful light beams of thermal energy to treat gum infection and stimulate your tissues and bone to grow. Using lasers, your dentist can cut and remove diseased tissues, sterilize infected areas, and kill bacteria and germs.

Laser Gum Surgery Procedure

If you’ve scheduled a laser gum surgery, below is what to expect:

• The dentist or periodontist will place a fiber optic tip with the laser at the top of the gum pockets. The laser uses pinpointed light to remove inflamed and diseased gum tissues from the deep gum pockets. The lasers remove diseased tissues only. The healthy gum tissues are left intact. The laser destroys periodontal bacteria and other disease-causing germs from the pockets.
• Next, the dentist or periodontist uses an ultrasonic cleaning tool to remove tartar and other debris from the pockets.
• The dentist then uses the laser to remove telltale debris from the deep pockets and sterilize the gum tissues and bone. Lasers also stimulate the formation of a blood clot which helps to speed up healing and encourages the gum tissues to reattach to the tooth.

Laser surgery for gum contouring

Do you have a gummy smile? If you answered yes, you might qualify for a laser gum contouring procedure. If an infection or inflammation causes the gummy smile, the periodontal will perform deep cleaning followed by laser surgery to sculpt and contour the gum tissues.

The dentist can use lasers to remove excess gum tissue if the gummy smile results from the excessive gum tissue. The laser also cauterizes the tissues to reduce post-surgery bleeding and discomfort. The lasers can also reshape the underlying bone.

Laser Gum Surgery Benefits

Laser gum treatments are worthwhile. Benefits include:

• Less invasive. Laser surgery is way less invasive than traditional gum surgeries. Traditional surgeries require tools like scalpels to cut tissues, which leaves behind painful wounds, bleeding, or swelling. Lasers never cut into the gum tissues and therefore are less invasive and offer a decreased risk of infections, pain, and swelling.
• Precise. Lasers only remove damaged tissues without affecting the healthy ones. Traditional surgeries can interfere with healthy tissues, increasing the risk of further infections. Lasers won’t affect the surrounding teeth and bone.
• Less painful. Since lasers don’t require cutting through your gum tissues with dental tools like scalpels, it’s gentler and more comfortable.
• Improves your smile and oral health. You can use laser surgery to reshape your gums to improve a gummy smile. Similarly, lasers stimulate healthy tissue growth when used to treat gum disease.
• Quick recovery. Lasers precisely remove only the damaged tissues without cutting and stitching. It makes a recovery smoother and quicker. With traditional surgeries, you can expect pain, swelling, and wounds that might take several days to weeks to heal.

Schedule an Appointment Today

Are you interested in laser gum surgery in Westwood, MA? Contact Westwood Dental Group – Formerly the office of Dr. Donald J. McLellan for more information.