Treating Gum Disease

Healthy teeth and gums are vital for a beautiful and confident smile, but did you know that they are also elemental to your overall health? Gum disease can have negative effects on your oral and overall health, and the effects can last for many years.

Gum disease develops when bacteria enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout your body, traveling to various organs and joints. It advances in three stages, all of which can be prevented and/or treated in Metairie, from the dentists at Metairie Dental Centre.

To treat gum disease Metairie Dental Centre was the first office in New Orleans to offer the Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure, or LANAP®, a modern and less invasive gum disease treatment for patients suffering from gum disease. LANAP renders faster healing and less discomfort than traditional gum disease treatments.

What Makes LANAP So Effective?

LANAP uses the PerioLase® MVP-7™ laser to surgically treat gum disease through regeneration. This means that LANAP removes diseased tissue from around the healthy gums. This laser gum surgery is so advanced that it can tell the difference between healthy tissue and diseased tissue, allowing the dentists at Metairie Dental Centre to treat only the affected areas.

While other gum disease treatments can lead to further damage such as gum recession, LANAP actually stimulates the area, helping with bone regeneration in the areas where the procedure takes place. This helps prevent teeth from falling out, which can happen when gum disease is left untreated.

The FDA has cleared periodontal laser gum surgery for trained and licensed dental professionals to use. The effects of LANAP have been studied, and research shows at least a 50 percent reduction in gum pocket depths, and improved bone density by 48 percent over more invasive methods of treating gum disease. Further research results show that since LANAP spares more healthy tissue, your mouth actually becomes less susceptible to future root cavities and tooth root decay.

How Does LANAP Work?

LANAP actually begins with the dentists at Metairie Dental Centre scheduling an exam where he studies and tests the depth of the gum pockets that have formed next to your teeth. This will tell him how much he needs to remove.

Next, the dentists at Metairie Dental Centre takes the laser and sends out pulsed laser lights. This is the part of the procedure where the laser begins removing diseased tissue from the gum pockets. Then, calculus deposits are removed from the tooth surface. Ultrasonic scalers meticulously clean these deposits from underneath the gum line.

Finally, the tissue is compressed. Fortunately, with modern dental techniques no sutures or sewing of any kind is needed. the dentists at Metairie Dental Centre adjusts your bite and finishes the gum disease treatment.

How is Laser Gum Surgery different from Traditional Gum Disease Treatment?

LANAP’s techniques are highly beneficial when compared with traditional forms of gum disease treatment. With traditional forms of gum disease treatment, doctors would cut your mouth and make incisions that stunt further growth and healing in the mouth, while opening the door for further infections and complications. These older methods of gum disease treatment usually end up costing more in the long run, because they require additional visits and fixes to the initial operation. The Periolase laser, on the other hand, is specifically designed to eliminate unhealthy tissue, while leaving healthy tissue intact.

This LANAP procedure actually encourages healing and promotes regeneration of tissue. While more traditional methods of gum disease treatment still offer long-term results, they are more invasive than LANAP and don’t offer the regenerative benefits. Whereas traditional gum surgery uses scalpels and requires stitches, laser gum surgery doesn’t require any type of scalpel to be used. You can also expect not to see any sutures or stitches either, because the laser actually causes the blood to clot as it works through the removal of gum disease. Traditional forms of gum disease treatment might cause gum recession as a direct impact of a scalpel. Laser gum surgery results in little to no recession of the gums.

Laser gum surgery involves much less discomfort in its techniques. This is a direct result of ditching the scalpel for lasers. As an added bonus, you probably won’t need any pain medication after your gum disease treatment—in fact, you’ll be able to return to your normal routine almost immediately!