Laser therapy for gum disease

Laser-assisted therapy can be a viable alternative to traditional treatment of severe gum disease. Usually, dentists often treat periodontitis with a technique called scaling and root planing, in which bacteria-harbouring tartar is removed from the teeth above and below the gums, and rough spots on the roots of the affected teeth are pared down to remove the bacteria that dwell there. In some cases, this also involves lifting back the gums to remove tartar, then putting the gums back into place so that the tissue fits tightly against the teeth again. In the recent years, laser surgery is increasingly getting considered a possible alternative to traditional surgery. To assess the efficacy of laser therapy in treating gum disease, researchers at the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in New Orleans studied six patients with moderate to severe periodontitis, an infection of the gums that causes the gums to pull away from the teeth and form infected pockets. Each of these subjects were treated with 2 approaches. In the first the affected tooth was treated with traditional scaling and root planing only, and a second was treated with laser-assisted new attachment procedure, or LANAP. In the second one, the laser works by first clearing diseased tissue and killing bacteria between the teeth and gums; tartar is removed with an ultrasound instrument. The laser is then passed through the diseased pockets again to encourage blood clotting, which helps seal the gum tissue to the teeth. The results showed that that among six patients who had one tooth treated with a laser and another by traditional means, the laser-treated tooth showed evidence of new connective tissue growing within the gums around the tooth. Three months later, all of the laser-treated teeth showed evidence of new connective tissue attachments and regeneration of tissue covering the tooth root. The traditionally treated teeth, by comparison, did not. Laser therapy, thus can be an effective alternative in treating people with severe gum disease.