Do A “Cost-benefit Analysis”
First, you should consider how important the biggest benefits of laser periodontal treatment are to you. These include quicker treatment, faster recovery, little to no bleeding or pain, minimal loss of healthy gum tissue, and fuller eradication of bacteria from your mouth.
Plus, laser periodontal treatment excels at stimulating the regeneration of new gum tissue, which is an area no other method can compete with it in.
LANAP is a minimally invasive method of treatment. And it is safer for patients with certain medical conditions and who take specific medications as well.
These are wonderful advantages over “traditional” periodontal treatments, but laser periodontal surgery does cost a good deal more as well, which is the main reason why it’s not simply done for nearly all periodontal disease cases.
In most instances, laser treatment is reserved for the most severe cases of gum disease (advanced periodontitis), but some will prefer it for less severe levels of gum disease too – so it’s not a hard and fast rule it “must” be the most severe cases only.
Consider How Valuable Your Time Is
More traditional periodontal treatment can take several hours per visit to your periodontist and require numerous visits for treatment and follow up exams.
LANAP surgery is normally complete after only two 2-hour sessions and maybe one or two follow up visits. It does still take some time, then, but a lot less than with other gum treatment methods for more severe gum disease.
Plus, you don’t have to stay home for days on end recovering post-surgery with laser treatment. You can often go back to work after only one day, at most. There will be some minimal soreness, perhaps, for a few days, but nothing that will shut down your busy schedule.
Laser treatment is definitely the least time-consuming periodontal treatment options, and for those who can’t afford to lose too much time or who simply disdain (or fear) dental appointments, it’s typically the best choice.
Laser Treatment Strongly Recommended For Advanced Periodontitis
The extensive damage done by advanced periodontitis and the danger of losing too much healthy gum tissue with non-laser techniques strongly recommends laser treatment.
The PerioLase MVP 7 of LANAP surgery has 7 different settings so a trained periodontist can adjust the power and cutting method on different parts of your gums.
The laser can burn bacteria off your tooth roots, shave off diseased tissue without carrying away healthy tissue with it, and eliminate deep periodontal (bacterial) pockets, which are the source of severe inflammation of the gums.
The intensive and extensive infection involved in the most advanced cases of periodontal disease can be treated in other ways, but there’s not doubt that laser periodontal treatment is the best way to handle these types of situations.
Thus, advanced periodontitis, fewer hours/days in the dental office, and the general benefits of this minimally invasive technique, all argue in favor of laser periodontal treatment.
To learn more, or for a free quote, contact Dr. Raymond A. Kenzik in Ormond Beach, FL, today!