Lasers in Child Dentistry

Wednesday, May. 18, 2016

There are some technologies that make more of an impact than others. A technological advancement that has been revolutionary within the dental world was the introduction of lasers. At Kneib Dentistry, we feel that it is important to keep up with the various advancements available, to provide the best for our patients. For this reason, we have invested in laser technology, which include a carbon dioxide laser that is very dynamic with its uses.

Oral surgery is one of the facets of dentistry that has seen a major impact from laser technology. When it comes to oral surgery, children tend to benefit the most from the utilization of lasers due to multiple reasons.

These benefits include:

• Procedures involving tissue removal or recontouring may not require sutures or stitches. We understand children tend to be less cooperative with sutures.
• Some laser treatment may not require anesthesia. Local anesthesia administered by needle can be a challenging procedure for many children.
• The high-energy light beam minimizes bleeding because it aids in the clotting (coagulation) of exposed blood vessels, thus decreasing or stopping blood loss.
• The high-energy beam minimizes bacterial infections because it sterilizes the area being treated.
• Damage to surrounding tissue is minimized.
• Wounds heal faster and tissues can be regenerated.

Lasers are utilized for many procedures, including the recontouring of gummy smiles and the removal of lesions and other tissues.

More babies than you may think are born with a “tongue-tie”. A “tongue-tie” is a malformation that restricts the movement of the tongue and/or lips and may cause a speech impediment. A laser frenectomy is an ideal treatment option for children who are tongue-tied and babies that are unable to breast feed adequately due to limited tongue movement. A laser frenectomy may also help to eliminate speech impediments.