BEST Laser Gum Treatment Scottsdale, AZ
“We all think that cholesterol is important to heart disease. The health of your gums is a more important predictor of whether you will have a heart attack or not.” -Mehmet C. Oz, Director, Cardiovascular Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York. Good Morning America 12-15-2008 “In a study of more than 51,000 male doctors, the men with a history of gum disease were at a 64% higher risk for pancreatic cancer, compared with those with healthy mouths.” – The Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2007
Healthy Gums Healthy Body
Studies in recent years have been finding more links between gum disease and the overall health of our bodies. If you think about it, the mouth is a portal to the rest of our bodies. With gum disease, there is an increased amount of bacteria in our mouths and the gums are chronically inflamed. This allows the bacteria to enter our blood stream which can have deleterious affects on the rest of our body. The Medical Community in recent years has come to realize the importance in treating periodontal ( gum ) disease, just ask your Physician or Cardiologist. Studies have shown that gum disease has been linked to:
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Pregnancy Problems
- Increase risk of Pancreatic Cancer (64% increase)
It is important to your overall health to have gum disease addressed.
What is Gum Disease?
Gum, or Periodontal, disease has many contributing factors associated with it and the severity of the disease in a given person. Factors such as genetic makeup ( some people are more likely to develop gum disease), Oral Hygiene home care (brushing and flossing), nutrition, stress, some medications, and diabetes are some of the many contributing agents of gum disease. Over time the bacteria that cause gum disease will cause loss of attachment of the gums from the tooth. This deepens the space between the gum and tooth which produces what is called a “periodontal pocket”. After a pocket develops, unless treated, it will progressively deepen and will affect the bone support of the teeth. Ultimately, the teeth will loosen, and may need to be extracted.
Laser Gum Therapy
Is LANAP laser gum therapy right for you? If youve ever been told you have gum disease or need gum surgery you can be take advantage of the tremendous benefits that LANAP laser gum therapy offers. LANAP– A Therapy that brings your entire mouth back to health What LANAP laser gum therapy does is eliminate that bacteria residing in the “periodontal pockets” as well as removing the scar tissue that forms inside the pockets. What this does is allow the collagen fibers of the gums to re-attach to the tooth. I have routinely seen these periodontal pocket depths reduced by half or more. That means that the gum has re-attached and not receded. I see the inflammation is eliminated and LANAP patients are amazed that there is no more bleeding when flossing or brushing. Take a look at diagram to the left to review the LANAP laser gum therapy protocol.
Advantages to LANAP Laser Gum Therapy
The advantages of LANAP laser gum therapy are quite extensive.
- 24 hour recovery time with minor discomfort
- greater predictability of reattachment of the gum tissue and bone regeneration
- 98% of LANAP laser therapy patients stable after 5 years
- takes less time than traditional gum surgery
- reduced chance of infection
- less tooth sensitivity
- less bleeding
- no scalpels, no sutures
- little to no gum recession
- less invasive
The only FDA approved Laser Based treatment for gum disease is LANAP
LANAP laser therapy is ONLY performed with the Periolase MVP-7 laser specifically designed for LANAP. Other lasers can’t do what this laser can do! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. There are a lot of lasers out there….different wavelengths, different power, different parameters. But the only LANAP laser is the Periolase.
Alternative Treatments
Basically there are two alternative treatments to LANAP laser gum treatment. The first is Scaling and Root Planing, or “deep cleaning”. This treatment removes the tartar or calculus from under the gumline in the hopes of reducing the inflammation. Scaling and Root Planing will NOT promote reattachment of the gums and will NOT significantly reduce pocket depths. Basically, with Scaling and Root Planing the best case scenario is to keep the gum disease from getting worse. The second alternative to LANAP laser gum treatment is Osseous Surgery, or “Flap” Surgery. Before LANAP, this was the only way of reducing pockets, but, it comes at an expense. The way Flap surgery works is the gums are pulled away from the bone (called a Flap), exposing the bone and the roots of the teeth. The teeth are then cleaned, the bone is shaped. Then the gums are stitched back and then cut to make a normal depth pocket. For example, if you had a 6mm pocket, 3mm of gum tissue would be removed (never to grow back again) to make a normal 3mm pocket. The problem with this is if you take away 3mm of gum it will expose the roots of the teeth! This is what causes cold sensitivity and gives the appearance of longer teeth. In addition, because of the invasiveness of the surgery, it is much more painful after and takes alot more time to recover from. Before I was a LANAP Laser dentist, I would refer my periodontal patients for this procedure. I can’t count how many would do the first half of the procedure but refused to go back for the other half because of the discomfort and healing time. This is how I came to be a LANAP dentist. In my mind, it was a no brainer to offer a superior alternative to Flap surgery. Call us for a complimentary consultation to see if LANAP is right for you! (480)451-5435 or email us at [email protected]
The above x-rays are from one of my first LANAP laser gum therapy patients. On the left, the x-ray shows 90% bone loss around the center teeth, the teeth were mobile, the pockets depths were 11mm deep (normal is 3mm). One year after LANAP Laser gum therapy, the x-ray on the right show actual NEW bone formation. The teeth were no longer mobile, and the pocket depths were 4 mm deep. My original plan for these teeth were to extract them. Boy, am I glad I did LANAP instead.