Dental laser therapy (laser is an abbreviation of “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”) has found its way into many subfields of dentistry.
Laser light is characteristically monochromatic (waves of exactly the same length, frequency and energy), coherent (all waves travel in the same phase) and parallel. This results in radiation with a very high energy density that can be concentrated in a confined space and used therapeutically to ablate hard tissue, reduce germs and make incisions in soft tissue, for example:
- In conservative dentistry for germ reduction and caries removal.
- In surgery for coagulating (hemostatic) incision and bone removal.
- In endodontics for root canal sterilization and root tip resection (surgical ablation of the root tip).
- In implantology for the treatment of peri-implantitis (inflammation of the implant environment).
- In periodontal therapy for germ reduction and laser-assisted open curettage (liberation of the tooth surfaces from tartar in the gingival pocket and removal of inflammatory tissue).
- In aesthetic dentistry for laser-assisted bleaching (laser bleaching; whitening of teeth).
Due to the high time and cost, as well as its complicated application, the laser has not yet been able to establish itself as a routine therapy, despite unmistakable advantages such as the less painful treatment. Nevertheless, research is working on interesting further developments, so that the range of laser applications is likely to expand in the future.
The most important services of laser dentistry are presented below.