Laser Dentistry And Dental Hygiene: Diode Lasers For Root Planing And Scaling
Many dental experts recommend going in for your dental appointment every six months. These appointments involve not only thorough inspections of the dental condition and health, but also maintenance services like root planing and scaling procedures to remove any accumulated dental plaque and calculus that may eventually cause inflammation. Although dentists traditionally used hand scalers and other manual tools only, combining the use of diode lasers via laser dentistry has made maintenance work a lot more effective.
What Are Diode Lasers and How Are They Used?
The diode lasers operates via a semiconductor that has been embedded in a crystal, and have a wavelength between 655 and 980 nm. They do not interact with dental hard tissues, but rather soft tissues instead. In short, they have to be used in conjunction with manual tools, like hand scalers, during the root planing and scaling procedures. The diode lasers are mainly used for cutting and coagulating soft tissue surrounding the teeth.
Root planing and scaling procedures simply remove dental plaque and substances accumulated on the surface of the teeth. They cannot remove infected tissue or biofilm bacteria. This has been a problem in the dental industry for a long time. With diode lasers, affected tissues can be effectively removed during the procedure, which limits the effect and spread of conditions like infective endocarditis. If left untreated, infective endocarditis can cause a systemic infection.
How May Using Diode Lasers Be Beneficial for Root Planing and Scaling?
Root planing and scaling procedures are relatively simple. They get rid of dental plaque and nothing more. Diode lasers, as mentioned above, can get rid of infected or inflamed soft tissues and also biofilm bacteria in a simple and efficient way. Diode lasers are incredible tools that offer dental professionals many benefits, including the ability to:
- Relieve cellular stress and decrease the release of inflammatory cytokines after the infected or inflamed soft tissue has been removed. This mitigates the risk of inflammation after treatment and improves the rate of recovery.
- Aid in reducing gingival overgrowth. This improves the patient's dental condition considerably and reduces risk for gingivitis.
- Encourage the wounds to heal quickly. Diode lasers have been known to stimulate the proliferation of periodontal ligament fibroblasts, which are the tissues responsible for anchoring the teeth to the gums.
- Regenerate the affected tissue. When stem cells undergo diode laser treatment, cell proliferation is stimulated.
- Reduce the level of post-operative pain experienced.
What Are Some Challenges Associated with the Use of Diode Lasers?
Although diode lasers can do a world of good, they are still considered to be relatively new technology. As a result, dental professionals need to be careful when using the diode lasers since some instruments can stall and drag. This may result in unnecessary collateral thermal damage on the soft tissue. To prevent this, the speed of the laser and intensity of the wavelength emitted must be mastered.
In addition, dental professionals need to be extremely cautious when using diode lasers on patients with dental implants or other dental materials. The laser radiation can penetrate into these highly absorbent materials and structures, which can also cause extensive collateral thermal damage.
Conclusion
Not all dental professionals are comfortable with incorporating the use of diode lasers in simple root planing and scaling procedures. If you're looking for a simple procedure to remove any infected or inflamed tissue, finding a dental professional with the skills of using these lasers can be extremely beneficial. Diode lasers not only regenerate tissue and speed up recovery rates, but also improve dental health by preventing gingival overgrowth and other conditions relating to the gums.