Laser Dentistry Specialist

American Dental Clinic

Emmanuel Aguilar, DMD

Cosmetic Dentistry & Implants and Orthodontics located in San Diego, CA

Laser dentistry is a modern method that utilizes powerful, concentrated light beams to treat diseased dental tissue. At American Dental Clinic in San Diego, California, Emmanuel Aguilar, DMD, and his team use laser dentistry for gum therapy and other in-office procedures. To find out if laser dentistry can be a part of your next procedure, call American Dental Clinic or book a consultation online today.

Laser Dentistry Q&A

What is laser dentistry?

Laser dentistry uses lasers rather than drills and other traditional tools to treat dental conditions or make repairs. Lasers are powerful instruments that emit concentrated and focused beams of light. When the light hits the tissue in your mouth, it can manipulate or remove tissue to treat disease. 

Lasers can treat or manipulate both soft tissue, like gum tissue, and hard tissue, like your teeth or jawbone. If laser dentistry is an option in your case, the team at American Dental Clinic explains the procedure and how it works to you in detail. 

If you’re accustomed to traditional procedures, the team can answer your questions and explain the specific differences so you can make decisions regarding your care with confidence. 

What are the benefits of laser dentistry?

Compared to traditional dentistry methods, laser dentistry offers advantages that make it preferable to many patients. You might consider laser dentistry because it:

  • Causes less pain
  • May not require sutures
  • Is less likely to damage surrounding tissues
  • May not require anesthesia
  • Allows for faster healing
  • Sterilizes the area to prevent infection
  • Minimizes bleeding

Of course, there are benefits and drawbacks to every procedure, and lasers may not be the best approach in every case. For example, laser dentistry cannot effectively treat teeth with metal amalgam fillings. 

The team reviews your dental history and discusses your current health before performing any treatment at American Dental Clinic to make sure it’s safe to proceed. 

What can laser dentistry accomplish?

Lasers are highly versatile and are useful for numerous procedures and services in dentistry. To name a few, they can help with:

  • Crown lengthening
  • Teeth whitening
  • Soft tissue fold removal for denture fittings
  • Frenectomy
  • Cold sore treatment
  • Nerve regeneration

The team at American Dental Clinic specializes in laser gum therapy, an alternative to the traditional option of scaling and root planing. Laser gum therapy is a treatment for gum disease, which is extremely common and often results from poor eating habits, poor oral hygiene, smoking, and certain chronic illnesses.

During laser gum therapy, your dentist directs a dental laser at diseased or inflamed areas of gum tissue. The laser removes dead tissue and kills infection-causing bacteria in the region. In this way, it helps prevent future recurrence as long as you maintain good oral hygiene after your procedure. 

Thanks to the precision of dental lasers, laser gum therapy doesn’t harm healthy surrounding gum tissue. Your dentist can safely remove any plaque and tartar from the tooth and its root after performing the laser procedure, and it only takes about 24 hours to recover fully.

If you have gum disease or other oral health complications that need addressing, call American Dental Clinic or book a consultation online to find out more about laser dentistry today.