If you’ve ever skipped necessary dental or periodontal appointments for fear of pain and trauma, we have good news. Modern dentistry uses technologically enhanced tools that make your appointments calmer, gentler, and less likely to cause anxiety. Some of the most beneficial tools we use today are dental lasers. These tools use a beam of focused light, operating at various levels of frequency. With a variety of laser dentistry tools at our fingertips, we make fillings less jarring, perio treatments less damaging to soft tissues, and exams more efficient.
Visit Chisholm Trail Smile Center to experience modern laser dentistry first-hand. Dr. Matthew Bridges provides preventive, restorative, and cosmetic treatments in our Duncan OK dental clinic. Call (580) 255-4880 or contact us through our website to set up an appointment.
Quieter, More Precise Fillings
It’s a fact of life that most people will experience tooth decay that requires a filling at least once in their lives. If you’ve ever had a cavity filled with a traditional drill, you know it is noisy and causes vibrations you can feel deep in your bones. Many cases of dental anxiety stem from fear of the drill, in fact. In our office, we prefer to use a Waterlase laser tool for fillings, for two reasons. First, a laser tool is quieter and creates only the sensation of a soft pulse. The second benefit is the fact that the Waterlase laser is a more precise cutting tool. This allows us to preserve more of your natural tooth when removing decay and bacteria. It also means that many cavities that would have required a local anesthetic injection can now be completed with less sensitivity. Many patients are surprised when we tell them they won’t need an injection!
Laser-Based Periodontal Therapy
If you suffer from gum disease, you’ve probably had periodontal therapy appointments that left your gums sore and swollen for days. It’s not fun, but removing bacteria from below the gum line requires access to those spaces. In the past, dentists used metal tools to scrape and scale away bacteria, but today laser dentistry provides an equally effective solution. Lasers can be used to access the periodontal pockets and sanitize them more precisely. This means less rubbing against the gums, and less pain afterwards.
If you require gum surgery, a soft tissue laser can be used to cut and cauterize tissues. This technique is preferable to using a scalpel and suturing because it causes less bleeding, promotes faster healing, and causes less damage to the gingival tissues.
Efficient Diagnostic Tools
Another wonderful application of laser technology is the DIAGNOdent diagnostic tool. When conducting an oral exam in the past, we used metal tools to find spots of demineralized enamel on teeth. These “soft spots” tell us that a cavity may develop and help us deliver strengthening fluoride treatments where they are most needed. Today, we use a low frequency laser to illuminate the teeth. Soft spots become immediately visible and help us catch problem areas we may have missed in the past. DIAGNOdent can also help us identify gum disease symptoms more readily.
Lasers tools make oral cancer screening more efficient, as well. One laser-based tool scans the mouth to find thickened tissues that may indicate cancerous growth. Another laser tool can be used to gently remove a tissue sample for biopsy.
Laser Dentistry is Advanced Dentistry
When you seek care with Dr. Matthew Bridges, you ensure you are getting the most advanced, efficient dental care possible. Visit Chisholm Trail Smile Center to learn how laser dentistry can improve your family’s experiences at the dentist. Contact our Duncan OK dental office at 580-255-4880 for an appointment.
