Lasers Aren’t Just for James Bond Movies
If you’re old enough to remember Mel Farr or Alex Karras playing for the Lions and Mickey Lolich for the Tigers, your first exposure to lasers could have been the James Bond movie Goldfinger. There our beloved Cold Warrior looked as if his, uh, personal space could be impinged upon by a laser. Fortunately for the free world, it wasn’t.
Dr. Egger has never had to take on Spectre, but he uses lasers all the time. It’s called laser dentistry, and Oddjob is nowhere in sight.
Laser dentistry is used in combination with traditional dental treatments to reduce patient discomfort and provide more precise results. Dr. Egger uses a diode laser primarily to reshape gum tissue, but it also has other uses in his practice.
Cavity preparation
Dr. Egger frequently uses dental lasers to remove decayed tooth tissue and prepare cavities for filling. Here are some of the benefits of this use of lasers:
- Less tooth sensitivity
- Quicker treatment
- No annoying drilling noise
- Preservation of more healthy tooth structure
- Less risk to the pulp at the tooth center
Sometimes, we can utilize lasers to limit the amount of drilling needed. Sometimes we can eliminate the need for anesthesia. But occasionally, we can’t use lasers: when teeth already contain filings, for cavities located between the molars, to prepare a tooth for a crown or bridge.
Lasers and gums
Diode lasers are very effective for addressing issues with the gums.
- Periodontal disease — Dr. Egger uses lasers for root planing and scaling, the removal of bacteria and infected tissue from periodontal pockets, surgical reshaping of the gums to reduce the size and depth of periodontal pockets, and to promote reattachment of the gum to the tooth root.
- Gum recontouring — Lasers beat up on gummy smiles, too. Dr. Egger can take overly long gumlines back, creating a more symmetrical line, and lasers can prepare the gumline for a crown.
These are some of the benefits to using lasers in gum treatment:
- Less bleeding and swelling
- Less painQuicker healing
- Quicker healing
- Reduced infection risk
- Ability to work on multiple areas of the mouth in a single session
- Greater precision in tissue removal
So, while Dr. Egger may not be facing off against the likes of Ernst Blofeld anytime soon, he knows his way around a diode laser! Call us at 989-773-3560 to make your next appointment.