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Laser Periodontal Treatment Kills Infection-causing Bacteria

Periodontal disease can be exacerbated by a number of co-factors. These include smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol consumption levels, sugary drinks, a generally poor diet and inadequate oral hygiene on a daily basis and infrequent professional hygiene visits, and refusing restorative and periodontal recommendations, to treat early disease, and a genetic predisposition which was inherited from your parents.
But whatever the ultimate cause of gum disease, it is pathogens, primarily bacteria, that trigger the inflammatory response that results in loss of gums and bone support for the teeth.

Millenniums MVP 7 Nd Yag laser has provided a tested treatment that includes removing diseased pocket tissue and bacteria while preserving healthy gum and bone tissues. A patented protocol or LANAP, offers the dental patient numerous benefits, including the elimination of bacterial colonies in the mouth that can otherwise lead to a return of the periodontal problems recently corrected. LANAP, or Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure, is a very strict protocol to be used with this laser.

How Bacteria Affect Your Mouth
Bacteria and other pathogens will enter your mouth to feed on sugary films coating your teeth and gums and on food particles caught in your interdental spaces. Many of these bacteria may already be inside your mouth, actually, but will grow unchecked when proper, consistent dental hygiene is not exercised.

Over time, bacteria tend to colonize the mouth in “biofilms” that most frequently stretch along the gum line, between teeth, and on the lower or back sides of teeth.

As plaque and tarter, or calculus, build up, bacteria thrive in your mouth. This can lead to an infection in the gums, which may spread to other parts of the body, and causes inflammation redness, and soreness, in your mouth and beyond. It can also lead to “halitosis” (chronic bad breath.)

Typically, it can take months and even years for bacterial biofilms to do their full damage to your gums and teeth. It begins with mild gingivitis and cavities, then progresses to periodontitis and perhaps a root canal surgery, and ultimately can result in advanced periodontitis and tooth loss.

How Laser Periodontal Treatment Solves The Problem
Traditional periodontal treatments like root scaling and planing, gum flap surgery, and more all have their place, and are sometimes the appropriate option. But it’s also true that, in severe cases of periodontal infection, bacteria may repopulate deep periodontal pockets despite multiple traditional gum treatments.

This doesn’t mean your periodontist didn’t do his/her job; there’s always a risk of repeat gum disease, particularly if good oral health is not maintained following the treatment.

But, in many cases, your periodontist may recommend laser periodontal treatment as a superior option. Here’s why:

  • Laser light kills bacteria and other pathogens it comes in contact with and some effective light will penetrate deeper into soft tissues, only harming the diseased bacteria. . This strongly reduces risk of re-infection and resultant inflammation.
  • Special laser tools used by periodontists have multiple laser-strength settings so that they can use a more intense beam to kill bacteria on a tooth root, for example, but a more delicate laser beam to carefully cut out infected periodontal tissue.
  • The MVP 7 laser will actually stimulate new growth of bone tissue. No other periodontal surgery besides bone grafting, does this to the extent that laser periodontal surgery will.
  • There is very little pain, bleeding, or swelling after laser periodontal treatment; and recovery time is extremely fast.
  • The precision of the laser means that infected tissue can be removed with little to no loss of healthy gum tissue. There is much less loss of good tissue with laser treatment than in any other method.
  • Laser periodontal treatment can be done quickly, often in a single sitting.

The bottom line is that bacteria are the root cause of gum disease and that only by eliminating them can you truly solve the problem. And laser periodontal treatment does exactly that.

Contact periodontist Dr. Raymond A. Kenzik in Ormond Beach, FL, today to learn more about how LANAP and other laser periodontal treatments can kill infection-causing bacteria and restore healthy gums!

Located in Beautiful Ormond Beach

Ormond Beach Periodontics and Implant Dentistry is conveniently located off of Nova Road in Ormond Beach, Florida. We help seniors, adults, and teenagers smile with confidence.