Laser Dentistry (Soft Tissue Lasers and Hard Tissue Lasers)
Dental lasers are advanced dental tools used in modern dental offices. Laser dentistry uses light energy to form a beam of radiation. That radiation beam can cut through or remove soft oral tissue and harder substances like your teeth and jawbone, etc.
What Are Dental Lasers are used for?
Laser Sulcular Development
A term coined by Dr. Janet Hatcher Rice, also called ‘troughing’. After tooth preparations that extend below the gum line, the laser is used to seal blood vessels and nerve endings, eliminating puffy gums, so crowns look better, and smiles are clean, sharp and perfect.
Composite Filling Preparation
The erbium laser is used to lightly prepare worn areas for retention of composite fillings. This does not require numbing or drilling, and patients love it. Most procedures are on older patients with receding gums and worn dentition, either at the root surface or biting surface to provide a younger smile.
What Are Soft Tissues Lasers?
Soft tissue lasers are specifically designed to perform dental procedures on your lips, gums, tongue, and all the other soft tissues of your mouth.
How Soft Tissue Lasers Work
Soft tissue lasers work by emitting laser wavelengths that are absorbed by water molecules in your oral tissues. The laser enables your dentist in Bristol, TN, to precisely cut and/or remove damaged or infected tissues without negatively affecting other areas inside your mouth.
What Are Hard Tissue Lasers?
Hard tissue lasers are specifically designed to perform dental procedures on your teeth, enamel, jawbone, or other tooth structures.
How Hard Tissue Lasers Work
Hard tissue lasers have higher power settings that enable them to precisely cut through hard material with minimal damage to the surrounding oral structures.
What Are Dental Lasers Used For?
Laser dentistry is used for many different types of dental procedures.
Cavity Detection and Removal
Dental lasers can quickly identify tooth decay, remove that decay from a tooth, and then prepare the enamel before placing the filling. The dental laser identifies tooth decay by observing certain by-products that tooth decay usually produces.
Removal of Old Fillings
A dental laser can remove your old fillings without the need for anesthesia. It will then prepare that tooth for the placement of a new filling. A dental laser eliminates the need for a traditional dental drill because it’s replaced by a hard tissue laser that can cut through bone.
Remove Gum Disease
Dental lasers can remove diseased gum tissue and then reshape it while eliminating the bacteria.
Root Canal Procedures
Dental lasers are used to remove oral bacteria during a root canal procedure.
Tooth Sensitivity
Dental lasers treat hot and cold tooth sensitivity by sealing the tubules on your tooth’s root, which will decrease or eliminate the sensitivity in your tooth.
Teeth Whitening
Dental lasers are sometimes used in teeth whitening treatments. Using a dental laser will speed up teeth whitening gels by activating the peroxide bleaching solution in them.
Biopsy and Lesion Removal
Dental lasers can remove a small amount of oral tissue (biopsy) so it can be examined for cancer. They can also be used to remove the lesions in your mouth that cause canker sore pain.
Crown Lengthening
Dental lasers are capable of cutting and shaping your gum tissue so that more of your tooth’s natural surface shows.
The Benefits of Using Dental Lasers
Many dentists prefer dental lasers due to their amazing benefits.
- They reduce the need for anesthesia.
- There is less pain when using a laser.
- They eliminate the need for a traditional dental drill.
- They will minimize swelling and bleeding during soft tissue treatments.
- They help preserve more of your healthy tissue when removing a cavity.
- They don’t require the use of sutures because the laser immediately cauterizes (seals) the incision.
- They minimize the chances of bacterial infections.
- Your tissues will regenerate faster when a laser is used versus when traditional dental methods are used.
Contact Us – A Reputable Dentist in Bristol, TN
Rice Dental Arts in Bristol, TN, welcomes all Tri-State Area residents to our dental practice. We offer a comfortable, welcoming environment and only use modern, state-of-the-art technology and equipment to ensure you receive the best dental care possible.
If you have oral pain or other dental issues, please Contact Rice Dental Arts today. We would be happy to customize a dental plan that best fits your needs.
