How Lasers Reduce Bacteria in Cavities and Diseased Gum Tissues

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Bacteria that are normally found in your mouth are usually kept in balance. There are harmful and good bacteria there, but the balance can be lost for various reasons, including poor dental care. When it is out of control, it will often become periodontal disease, which means the bad bacteria are winning. When that happens, gums can be expected to recede, teeth may become loose, and some will be lost.

Lasers Used to Fight Periodontitis

In recent years, lasers have been brought into the field of dentistry and given a number of practical applications. A powerful application has been to use it to reduce the number of bacteria in cavities and in gums.

Every laser operates within certain power and frequency ranges. By controlling these two aspects of lasers, and the time length of the emission, they can be adjusted perfectly for various uses in dentistry – or any other field. Lasers have been fine-tuned to give dentists the control they need to use these high-tech tools on teeth and gums. They have also been adjusted to be able to help destroy certain types of bacteria.

Gingivitis and Periodontitis

Bacteria in the gums can cause a lot of damage to the teeth and gums. The presence of the harmful bacteria is first seen as gingivitis. At this stage, there is no serious damage taking place, and the bacteria can often be removed rather easily by brushing and flossing.

If the problem is allowed to get worse, it becomes periodontitis. Once it gets to this stage, pockets begin to form in the gums and the bacteria can hide there and rapidly multiply into the billions. This enables it to begin damaging the roots of the teeth, and the jawbone itself, and if it is not remedied, tooth loss will soon begin to occur.

Lasers and Bacteria

When treating someone for periodontitis, a fiber optic cable is used to direct the laser light into the pocket caused by periodontitis. With a sweeping motion, the thin cable is swept across the pocket, basically killing nearly all of the bacteria. It will not, however, destroy all of it.

Advantages of Lasers

Using a laser to destroy bacteria provides several advantages over the surgical methods. For one thing, it is painless. Another advantage is that it takes considerably less time to complete the process. And perhaps the best advantage is that there is less swelling and discomfort afterwards with lasers. Since it is not necessary for the dentist to cut or to suture the gums during the procedure, patients can often return to work within 24 hours.

The bacterium that causes periodontitis does not only affect the teeth and gums. Some of it can also travel through the bloodstream, and affect other parts of the body. It is now believed to be involved in causing diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. It is likely also behind Alzheimer's and kidney failure.

By destroying these bacteria, or most of it, it enables the body's immune system to be able to recover and grow stronger. The gums will reattach to the teeth, closing up the pockets. This means that the patient may see better health overall.

The light from the laser is generally not harmful to the gums, and very little damage may occur. In the surgical version, some gum tissue is going to be damaged and possibly removed. This will necessitate the patient needing between 2-4 weeks for recovery, and may need to go on a liquid diet. The patient does need to continue taking care of their teeth, with regular brushing and flossing.

The procedure is also generally safe for people who are often not considered good candidates for surgery. This includes people with diabetes, hemophilia, and those on blood thinners.

Lasers and Root Canals

Because of the ability of a laser to kill bacteria, it is also being used to sterilize roots during the root canal procedure. Once the roots are exposed, the laser light is applied to the root canal to sterilize it, and then it is sealed. This helps to prevent reinfection in the tooth, enabling it to last longer, and be less likely to need to be redone.

Laser Treatment for Cavities

Lasers really have moved dentistry into the future. When it comes to cavities, it is usually not necessary to use any kind of painkillers, so there is not any fear of waiting till it wears off once you go home. The laser light also kills the bacteria once the cavity has been prepared for filling. This helps ensure that the tooth will last longer.



Makes Teeth More Resistant

In addition to destroying the bacteria that harms teeth, lasers are also being used to make teeth more resistant to the bacteria. It was discovered that a laser could be used to actually change the material on the surface of a tooth. When this takes place, the new material is much harder for bacteria to harm it with the acid they produce.

How Safe Are Lasers

The use of lasers in dentistry has taken place since 1990, and it continues to be researched and developed. All lasers that are being used in dentistry have been approved by the FDA. They are approved under a status referred to as 510(k) clearances. This is a rather generic approval of the lasers in use, and each laser is classified for specific uses only. Lasers in general have been approved for 20 specific purposes, but some laser devices may only be qualified to perform 10 of them, as an example. Dentists must buy lasers according to their intended uses, since there is not a laser that is suitable for all dental purposes.

Dr. Marc Lazare is a well-known dentist in Manhattan, NY, who uses high tech dentistry to treat his patients and give them beautiful teeth. He is a teaching dentist, has a regular radio program, and is author of numerous professional magazine articles and a book.

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