The battle against gum disease and tooth decay is real. Those little bacteria dudes in your mouth are pretty mighty. In fact, they’re responsible for causing harm to your teeth, gums, and ultimately your smile. Which is why we use laser technology in our dental office.
Sure, we could geek out about the actual tech (because c’mon we did say lasers) but the really cool part is what lasers help us do and the benefits for y-o-u.
We have a couple different kinds of lasers to help you win the battle against tooth decay and gum disease. Let’s take a closer look at how you can benefit from laser technology when it comes to winning the war on your smile!
What is dental laser technology?
A dental laser is a small instrument that creates a slim yet powerful beam of laser light energy to treat areas of the mouth. There are lasers that are used for hard tissue treatments like cavity prevention, filling preparation, and there are soft tissue lasers which help wound healing and are used for gum treatments. Lasers are bactericidal and seal in lymphatic structures, nerve endings and blood vessels.
Dental lasers are really good at treating problems with your teeth, bone and gum tissue. They’re used in a variety of treatments to help with hypersensitivity, tooth decay, gum disease (aka periodontal disease), and they’re even used for whitening teeth.
Laser therapy benefits:
- You get pain-free dental treatments without having to have shots or anesthesia; which means you’ll likely experience less anxiety around your treatment
- Lessens the number of tools needed for treatment, like drills
- You get precision accuracy because we can target only the damaged parts of the mouth and leave the healthy areas alone
- More of your natural tooth is left to work with after a cavity removal
- You heal faster and your healthy tissue rejuvenate
- You get a sterilized result and less risk of infection after treatment
- You get minimal swelling and bleeding of the soft tissue
Our hygiene department uses dental laser technology to help destroy the bacterial colonies that hang out in your gums, while our exceptional dentist, Dr. James Powell, uses a laser for removing mucoceles, gum reshaping, stimulating the soft palate, and fixing small cavities without needing to use drills or shots.
Reducing Bacterial Colonies
Our soft tissue laser attacks and destroys oral bacteria that inflames your gums at the microscopic level.
Our laser certified hygienists can perform this treatment while you’re here for your teeth cleaning. The laser therapy gives you the added benefit of disrupting the “bad” bacteria that can’t be reached with other tools. At the same time, this tool helps promote the healing process.
Doing this helps keep bacteria from traveling through your bloodstream into other areas of your body. It also boosts your immune system while staving off the spread of infection in your mouth.
Mucocele Removal
A mucocele is a type of cyst that forms in your mouth. They’re typically caused by a blockage in the salivary glands, but you can also get them from biting your lips, irritation from oral piercings or nearby teeth, or from accidentally biting your cheeks.
They’re pretty small, ranging from 1 mm to a few centimeters, and you might see them as slightly blue or pearly lesions that can last anywhere from several days to years. While the shallow ones tend to burst, the deeper ones may stick around for a long time.
While this soft swelling in your mouth is a generally harmless and painless cyst, it can be annoying or cause irritation when you talk or chew. Using a dental laser, Dr. Powell can painlessly remove a mucocele.
Soft-Palate Stimulation
Dr. Powell also uses laser therapy to stimulate the soft palate to lessen snoring. Getting a good night’s sleep is super important, and snoring can inhibit that.
Snoring tends to happen because of the collapse of the oral mucosa tissues and just gets worse with age. With laser therapy, Dr. Powell can tighten the soft tissues and lower vibrations. The laser stimulates collagen fiber production in the soft palate. This is good news because it can keep you from having to wear a CPAP mask, snore pillow or snore guard.
Small Cavity Repair
Dr. Powell can fix your minor cavity without needing to use a drill. Yes, you heard this right! The laser destroys tooth decay while preparing surrounding tooth enamel to receive a filling.
Dental lasers seal nerve endings which anesthetize tissue, so you don’t need to have shots or a topical anesthetic. So if you are someone who puts off coming in because of anxiety from noisy drills in your mouth or getting shots, you don’t have to put it off anymore!
Which Laser Treatment Will Benefit You?
When it comes to dental laser technology, Dr. Powell and our experienced team can treat your cavities, bone, and gum disease by targeting and treating only the damaged areas. This leaves your healthy teeth, bone, and soft tissues untouched. Dental lasers have made it possible to perform exacting treatment that is pain-free, and quick to boot.
As the end of the calendar year approaches, if you still have dental work that needs to be done, why not put your dental insurance benefits to work for you and come on it? Use it or lose it!
If you still have questions or want to find out if laser dentistry is right for your dental problem, Dr. Powell and our team are happy to evaluate your oral health to see if laser dentistry is best for you.
We invite you to call our team in Palmdale, California, by calling (661) 349-7725 or schedule your dental visit online. We want to help you get the quality care you deserve with the advanced technology for your most comfortable experience.
We have successfully helped many patients win the battle for healthy teeth and gums, and look forward to serving you next!
