Treatment FAQ

how come gums don't look much different after laser treatment from periodontist

by Ms. Judy Ritchie DVM Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

The gums may be shorter after cutting the healthy tissue. That may cause tooth sensitivity because more of the tooth is exposed, and it may not look esthetically good. Prescription pain medication following gum surgery typically is needed.

Full Answer

What happens after laser periodontal treatment?

After laser therapy, your post-op care will be unique to your healing process, and your dental professional will give you guidelines specific to you. In general, you may experience the following symptoms directly after laser periodontal therapy: A change in the color of your gum tissue. Light bleeding and swelling around the laser site.

Is laser gum surgery right for You?

 · Laser gum treatment cost in US, UK and worldwide. Before to deep dive into all costs of treating gum disease with laser, you should remember that the laser therapy is a complementary method to cure gingival problems. In fact, professional teeth cleaning ($75 to $100), scaling, root planning ($275 to $850) are also required to reach the result ...

What's the process of getting a laser gum treatment?

Laser energy cleans the gum tissue. Dr. Ressler uses two types of laser to treat gum disease. The first laser (Nd:YAG) painlessly vaporizes the diseased lining of infected gum tisssue. This results in the destruction of germs that cause gum disease, and prepares the gum tissue for reattachment to the roots of your teeth. 7.

Can laser periodontal therapy help gum infections?

 · Laser periodontal treatment eliminates bacteria more thoroughly than other methods and has a much lower reinfection rate as a result. It can be done in a single sitting as well, and there is very little pain, bleeding, or swelling post-op. Most people are able to return to work and to their normal daily routines within a day, and the overall healing time is much …

What do gums look like after laser treatment?

1. Do not be alarmed with any color changes or appearance of gum tissue following laser therapy. Gum tissue that turns white, gray, yellow, red, blue, purple, and/or “stringy” reflects a normal response to laser therapy. Soreness and/or tooth sensitivity is also a normal response to laser therapy.

How long does it take for gums to grow back after laser?

With laser gum treatment, you can expect to heal faster than traditional gum surgery. The length of time it will take your gums to heal depends on the severity of your gum disease. It can take anywhere from 2 – 4 weeks, while deeper pockets can take months to completely heal.

How effective is laser periodontal treatment?

Laser periodontal treatment remains about 85 percent successful for most patients. Periodontal laser therapy uses a dental laser to remove inflamed gum tissue from the area around the tooth.

How do gums heal after laser treatment?

Recommended diet after laser gum treatment For the first week after laser gum treatment, we recommend a diet of soft foods, such as eggs, pasta, yogurt, ice cream, or mashed potatoes. Avoid chewing anywhere the laser was used.

Do gums grow back after laser gum contouring?

While subtle changes to your smile may occur naturally over time, the gum tissue that was trimmed away during laser gum contouring will not grow back.

What happens after laser gum surgery?

After laser gum surgery the gums will have tiny clots (scabs) over the areas treated by the laser. It is very important to the healing process that these tiny clots are not dislodged by any excessive or unnecessary amounts of chewing or larger pieces of food.

Is laser treatment for gums worth it?

The American Dental Association has not yet approved the use of lasers for treating gum disease, but there's a small body of evidence indicating that laser gum surgery is safe and effective for treating many dental conditions, including gum disease.

Is laser deep cleaning worth it?

Deep cleaning teeth with a laser is a lot gentler on the patient than the conventional approach. It leads to less swelling, bleeding, and discomfort as well as a shorter recovery period. Many patients can get back to their regular diet a few days after their deep cleaning treatment.

Does it hurt to have your gums lasered?

Does laser gum surgery hurt? Laser gum therapy is almost always nearly pain-free. Typically, we use local anesthetic to keep you comfortable during the procedure.

How long does it take for periodontal disease to heal?

If you have the first stage of gum disease, gingivitis, you can usually expect to heal and recover within 14 days of getting a deep cleaning, assuming you take your prescribed antibiotics and maintain proper oral hygiene by brushing and flossing thoroughly.

Can deep pockets in gums heal?

Periodontal pockets are a symptom of periodontitis (gum disease), a serious oral infection. Periodontal pockets can be treated and reversed with good oral hygiene or with dental treatment.

Is laser gum surgery better than traditional?

Laser Periodontal Surgery Instead of a scalpel, the diseased tissue is removed with a specialized laser. The laser is able to kill bacteria without cutting into any gum or bone tissue. We also use it to encourage the gums to reattach more tightly to the teeth and promote fast healing.

How does laser gum surgery help?

Studies revels there are several benefit treating periodontal disease with laser over the traditional gum surgery; in fact laser: 1 Immediately blocks gingival bleeding; 2 Promotes periodontal tissue regeneration (alveolar bone and periodontal ligament) 3 Favors the rapid and spontaneous healing of the gingival pockets; 4 Reduces tooth mobility; 5 In most cases it does not require local anesthesia; 6 Stitches are not necessary; 7 The cases of relapses strongly decrease. 8 Eliminates discomfort during surgery and post-operative; 9 Reduce patient anxiety caused by the dental drill 10 Requires fewer follow-ups, less medication and almost no over the counter pain killer 11 Recovery and healing time are faster; 12 The success rate is close to 90%.

What is laser periodontal treatment?

During periodontal laser treatment, the periodontist addresses the pulsed Nd:YAG laser light within the pockets to kill bad bacteria. Next it’s time to remove tartar calculus, dental plaque using ultrasonic and manual tools (scaling and root planning phase).

How to keep your teeth healthy?

Here are some simple but effective rules to keep teeth and gums as healthy as possible: 1 Brush and floss twice a day especially after each meal; 2 Remember to replace the toothbrush every 3 months; 3 Use an adequate toothpaste that preserves and protects your gums from bacteria 4 Ask your dentist for an antimicrobial mouthwash that contain chlorhexidine but follow the label instruction to avoid to stain your teeth enamel; 5 Consider to buy a water-flosser to remove food bristles from in between dental elements, orthodontic braces and brackets . 6 Visit your dentist every 6 months to get your teeth cleaned professionally or even more often if you see any gum disease symptoms as: gum bleeding, swelling and redness.

What happens if you leave gingivitis untreated?

If left untreated, gingivitis progress to periodontitis. at this more severe stage, infection attacks periodontal ligaments and the alveolar bone. The result is that the tooth progressively remains without the necessary support, becomes loss and fall.

What is the purpose of periodontists?

Periodontists have different treatment options and all of them have the same purpose: destroy bacteria, removing the infected tissue, reducing and closing the gum pockets to avoid infection coming back. .

What is the second step in a laser treatment?

The second step involves the dentist or the dental hygienist to perform the professional teeth cleaning. In case of aggressive periodontitis, the periodontist may take x-rays exam to evaluate the bone re absorption grade.

How long does it take for plaque to form in the gums?

Dental plaque can form in less than 24 hours so it is crucial to remove it before to see hard calculus attached to the root of your teeth.

How does laser gum treatment work?

Laser energy cleans the gum tissue. Dr. Ressler uses two types of laser to treat gum disease. The first laser (Nd:YAG) painlessly vaporizes the diseased lining of infected gum tisssue. This results in the destruction of germs that cause gum disease, and prepares the gum tissue for reattachment to the roots of your teeth. 7.

How to treat gum disease?

In its early stages, gum problems can often be treated with scaling and root planing which is essentially a deep cleaning under the gum line after numbing the teeth and gums.

What causes pockets around teeth?

Gum disease causes gum "pockets" to form around your teeth. Deeper pockets, and deeper measurements, are signs of more severe gum disease. Larger numbers on the chart mean you have lost more of the bone that holds your teeth in place.

How long does it take to become a periodontist?

Periodontists are surgically-trained dentists who spend an additional three years of university or hospital-based residency training (following four years of dental school) specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of gum disease.

What is a YAG laser?

The first laser (Nd:YAG) painlessly vaporizes the diseased lining of infected gum tisssue. This results in the destruction of germs that cause gum disease, and prepares the gum tissue for reattachment to the roots of your teeth. 7. LASER TARGETS DISEASE-CAUSING GERMS.

How does laser gum surgery work?

Laser gum surgery is the tradition (and very painful) way of treating gum disease by surgically cutting out the diseased tissue with a scalpel. During the surgery, patients must be under general anesthetic because the procedure is very painful and invasive. The periodontist or general dentist cuts into the gums to get to the bacteria and diseased tissue, which is scraped and cut out. Unfortunately, healthy gum tissue has to be destroyed as part of this procedure. Bleeding during the surgery is common, as is inflammation of the gum tissue. Sometimes, bone grafting is needed as part of the process. With bone grafting, the surgeon typically adds synthetic bone and places in the area of lost bone to act as a catalyst for new bone growth. The results of this procedure are unpredictable. Sometimes new bone grows back and sometimes it does not depending on the surrounding bone and the location of the defect next to the tooth root. Bone loss around teeth is caused by high calculus accumulation that destroys the bone little by little until the tooth has to be extracted. “Once bone has been lost, the calculus deposits need to be removed to prevent further loss of bone.” This is when the traditional gum surgery is used. The gums may be shorter after cutting the healthy tissue. That may cause tooth sensitivity because more of the tooth is exposed, and it may not look esthetically good. Prescription pain medication following gum surgery typically is needed. The cut tissue must be stitched, and it takes weeks for patients to heal, particularly if bone grafting was needed. Only one side of the mouth is treated at a time because so many dental injections are required to treat those areas.

Can you use a laser for gum disease?

Thanks to advancements in dental lasers, people with gum disease now can opt for a non-surgical laser gum treatment as a safe, effective alternative to painful, invasive gum surgery . Most common in adults, gum disease is known as a “silent” disease because there’s usually no pain associated with the disease until it’s at an advanced stage. In the old days, there was only one way to treat moderate to severe cases of gum disease, and that was gum surgery. This surgical technique involves cutting the gums with a scalpel and pulling the tissues away from the jaw to gain access to dig out the diseased gum tissue. At the end of the procedure, the gums are stitched back together and the area remains very painful for several days before healing starts to occur and the patient can return to normal activities. With the introduction of dental lasers, non-surgical laser gum treatments are coming on strong as the treatment of choice for treating gum disease.

How to treat gum disease?

The second and more modern option for treating gum disease is non-surgical laser gum treatment . A non-surgical laser gum treatment is a minimally invasive procedure that is much safer and less painful – and the patient heals much faster. Non-surgical laser gum treatments use laser light to selectively remove the diseased, inflamed gum tissue, and leave the healthy gum tissue alone. No cutting is necessary, and there’s very little bleeding. Laser gum treatments are performed without pulling the gum tissue back away from the jaw. This non-surgical gum treatment also uses the laser light to seal the blood vessels and nerve endings during the procedure. This is critically important because it significantly reduces pain after the procedure and allows patients to return to normal activities immediately afterward. The other improvement is the laser’s ability to kill bacteria on contact. This leaves the treated area free of bacteria which promotes more rapid healing of the treatment area. The laser softens calculus (tartar) and makes it easier to remove. The wonderful part of having laser gum treatment is that you are able to return to normal activities immediately. Because of the laser’s ability to seal blood vessels and nerve endings, it virtually eliminates bleeding and pain during and after the procedure is finished. No anesthesia is required. Recovery starts immediately. The pain after the procedure is minimal and short (usually in 2 days or less). There is no need for medication.

How long does it take to recover from gum contouring?

If your symptoms persist longer than two weeks , contact your dentist to ensure there are no complications.

Can you take pain relievers after gum contouring?

For most patients, discomfort after a gum contouring procedure is minimal. If you do experience pain, you can take over-the-counter pain relievers. However, do not use aspirin-based medications, as these can thin your blood and cause excessive bleeding. You should discuss pain management methods with your dentist before treatment.

What to eat to heal gums?

For the first few days, you should eat mainly soft, cool foods, such as yogurt, eggs, pasta, soft vegetables, and ice cream. These types of foods are more gentle on your gums and can help them recuperate. Until your gums fully heal, avoid spicy foods as well as food with seeds, including: 1 Kiwis 2 Popcorn 3 Poppy seeds 4 Strawberries

Effective procedure for the treatment of gum disease

Lasers have revolutionized numerous markets, and oral care is no exception. Although laser gum therapy is still in its infancy – and not yet considered a tested method of treatment by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) – it shows appealing results for eligible patients.

Why Laser Therapy Good for Periodontal Disease?

Gum disease is an infection of the supporting tissues and bone that hold your teeth in place. The condition affects generally grownups in their 30s and 40s, according the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NICDR), and is generally triggered by:

How Laser Therapy Works

In gum laser assisted periodontal therapy, the service provider uses a dental laser to gain access to and eliminate the inflamed gum tissue from around the root of the tooth. When the infected tissue is gotten rid of and the root is exposed, the root scaling starts.

Risks and Benefits of Laser Periodontal Therapy

According to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), there are adequate advantages to using lasers for excising diseased gum tissue:

How Much Does Laser Periodontal Therapy Cost

The cost of laser gum disease therapy depends entirely on the degree of the patient’s requirements, and your dental professional generally will not dedicate to a price up until he has had the possibility to examine you.

Can periodontal disease cause tooth extraction?

Periodontal disease can increase your risk for conditions like stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. Untreated, it can also result in tooth extraction. It’s exceptionally important to treat it. If you start early, it can even save you from needing more invasive treatments in the long run.

Is periodontal therapy effective?

Periodontal therapies and treatments are often exceptionally effective, and as long as you follow the instructions your dentist provides you during the maintenance stage, your risk of recurrence is low. This includes careful oral hygiene and no use of any tobacco products. Last medically reviewed on March 21, 2018.

What are the risks of gum disease?

Gum disease should be treated as soon as possible because it’s linked to increased risk factors for conditions like: 1 stroke 2 heart disease 3 diabetes 4 respiratory disease

What are the different types of periodontal diseases?

Periodontal diseases are infections in the structures around the teeth, but not in the actual teeth themselves. These structures include the: 1 gums 2 alveolar bone 3 periodontal ligament

What is the best treatment for a swollen gum?

Other medications your dentist may prescribe include: 1 prescription antimicrobial mouth rinse 2 antiseptic chip, which is a tiny piece of gelatin that contains medication 3 enzyme suppressant, which contains a low dose of doxycycline to keep destructive enzymes from flourishing

What is periodontal disease?

Periodontal diseases are infections in the structures around the teeth, but not in the actual teeth themselves. These structures include the: It can progress from gingivitis, which is the first stage of periodontal disease and only affects the gums, to the other structures. Periodontal diseases are caused most often by a combination ...

What is phase 2 of a syringe?

Phase II: The surgical phase. If the more conservative treatments weren’t effective, treatments will move into the surgical phase. This will likely happen if the pockets of infection or plaque and tartar are too deep to clean. This phase will be assessed somewhere between four and eight weeks after the initial treatment.

Fast facts

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What is LANAP laser periodontal therapy?

Laser-assisted new attachment procedure (LANAP) is a nonsurgical alternative to periodontal surgery. It treats gum disease—an infection of the gums that’s usually caused by poor oral hygiene—using PerioLase, a YAG laser, to remove diseased tissue and kill bacteria while leaving healthy tissue intact.

How much does LANAP cost?

The cost of a LANAP is generally more expensive than traditional dental surgery and depends on the severity of your condition. Insurance plans may cover a small part of the treatment. The cost of a LANAP is generally more expensive than traditional dental surgery and depends on the severity of your condition.

What to expect during LANAP

The procedure can usually be completed in a pair of two - hour visits to minimize discomfort. Local anesthesia may be used, for patients who request it, but LANAP is noninvasive and normally doesn't require any other form of sedation. During your first visit, one side of the mouth will be completed.

Recovery and results

Recovery from LANAP will depend on your individual pain tolerance. LANAP is a surgical procedure, so you may experience mild soreness of the treated areas (this can be alleviated with ibuprofen). The gum tissues around the teeth may appear slightly discolored.

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