The Age of Lasers - Fixing the Tongue-Tie

The Age of Laser Technology

Nowadays, many dentists are getting themselves armed with laser technology.  Contrary to popular belief this is not because Australia is about to be invaded by North Korea!  The real reason is to make dentistry painless and less threatening.  After all dentists are nice people really.

Here we also have two laser surgery units that are used for different functions.  Both are what are called “soft tissue lasers”.  This means they are of the lower power variety and cannot cut teeth or bone.  But they can and do perform very useful functions.  Not only do they cut soft tissues, they actively promote healing.  This is a very useful effect and can be harnessed to your favour.  Lets look at what they can do for you.

First we use them to cut away excess tissue after a local anaesthetic injection and the tissue can be removed without any bleeding.  Furthermore, no stitches are required.  This is useful when we need to carry out a biopsy.  This is when a small piece of tissue is taken away to analyse under a microscope to diagnose the type of soft tissue lesion.

Secondly, we can use the laser technology to seal a small bleeding vessel when we are performing surgery.

Frenectomy

Thirdly, and most commonly, we use laser technology to perform a Frenectomy.  This may involve what is often referred to as a “tongue-tie”.  It can also be thick soft tissue tying the lip to the gum at the gum margin.  This makes tooth brushing very difficult and can result in a local inflammation of the gum with resulting gum recession, gum disease and bone loss around the tooth.  Again using the laser for a Frenectomy means no stitches and a very much more comfortable time after surgery.

Fourthly, a soft tissue laser can be used to reduce the discomfort of a cold sore (Herpes cold sore) and will shorten the time the cold sore lasts.  The effect of the laser energy is to activate the cells healing  systems and this leads to much faster healing.

Fifth, we use the soft tissue laser in conjunction with periodontal root surface cleaning to kill the bacteria in the gum crevice or pocket and thereby reduce the gum inflammationassociated with gum disease.

There are in fact so many ways that soft tissue lasers can help us as a surgical dentistry practice, and having this technology not only makes treatment far more patient-friendly but it also benefits the surgeon making his job quicker, easier and reducing risk of complications.

Contact the friendly team at NQ Surgical Dentistry today on (07) 4725 1656 or call in to see us at 183 Kings Rd, Pimlico QLD 4812