What Is New In Laser Dentistry

Dental diode lasers where first introduced around 1995. By the tail end of the millennium its use had become widespread. New applications and techniques continued to be developed and are, indeed, still emerging.

At Riverside Heights Dental, in North Surrey, BC, we take advantage of the benefits afforded by laser dentistry, most notably in minor soft tissue surgical procedures and during crown appointments.

Crown Fitting

Dental lasers allow for maximum control and precision when trimming excess tissue around the tooth. This in turn provides clean margins that enable us to produce spotless impressions for well-fitting crowns.

Soft-tissue surgical applications

The wide range of surgical applications of Dental lasers for soft-tissue covers the gamut from gingivectomy or frenectomy to removal of hemorrhagic lesions - and much more.

Laser dentistry techniques are often used for gingival sculpting or contouring - also known as “gum tissue reshaping.”  Sometimes this is done for pure cosmetic reasons and other times to aid with implant therapy.

Another common usage is dental curettage, a type of procedure employed to help deal with inflamed or damaged soft tissue and to remove decayed tissue when needed.

The popular procedure mentioned above as frenectomy, is sometimes better known as “tongue tie release”. It involves the removal of a small fold of tissue which prevents the tongue from moving freely.

Dental lasers can be used to help relieve cankers and cold sores and speed healing as well.  

A final application to mention in this by no means complete list would be its use in periodontal procedures to reduce the pockets between the gums and the tooth. This is done to simplify the labour of keeping them clean.

Advantages of laser in soft-tissue oral surgery

Laser dentistry offers many notable advantages to the dental patient, such as less bleeding, drastically reduced pain and discomfort - both during and after surgery, minimal postoperative swelling, no need for suturing, and lower bacterial index in the wound itself.

At the same time there are advantages for the dentist including time savings and versatility. These advantages are in turn passed on to the client in the form of shorter procedures and a wider range of services.

For all of the reasons listed above, we at Riverside Heights Dental are proud of being your Laser Dentistry experts in Surrey, BC.