Advanced periodontal disease (also known as gum disease) that occurs when a bacterial infection fills the pocket between your tooth and gums can be extremely painful. And the traditional treatments of scaling and root planing or surgery, which involve sharp instruments, scraping, cutting, and stitching of the infected area, are almost as painful as the problem itself. Since there is no cure for periodontal disease and traditional treatments offer stability to less than 5% of patients, many continue to suffer from the pain of this disease even after surgery.

Yet that no longer needs to be the case. With LANAP (Laser-assisted new attachment procedure), which is FDA approved, we now have a much gentler process that has been shown to produce long-lasting results of up to five years or better in 98% of patients. This process actually removes affected gum tissue without the use of sharp instruments and invasive procedures. With periodontal disease, the connective tissue that holds the tooth to the bone is destroyed and up until now, that connection has been permanently lost. Although there is no cure for the disease, LANAP provides a treatment that can bring the disease under control because it promotes actual re-growth of connective tissue.

Patients experience no pain during the surgery and gone are the days of painful recovery as well. To begin the process, I numb your teeth and gums and then place a laser fiber that is about the size of a pin into the area between your tooth and gums. The laser then emits a light that eliminates bacteria and diseased tissue. And LANAP uses a pulsing laser that can actually differentiate between healthy and diseased gum tissue. Once it identifies the infected areas, the laser destroys them and as the dentist performing the procedure, I then use the laser to disturb the healthy tissue, causing it to reattach to the bone. In the final step of the procedure, I use the laser to create a seal over the gum to prevent re-infection.

The time spent in the dentist’s chair for LANAP is greatly reduced from the treatment time needed for traditional approaches. For LANAP, two 2-hour visits along with a few follow-up visits to monitor a patient’s progress are all it takes. And the recovery time, instead of being days, is less than 24 hours, which means patients no longer have to miss several days of work as is often necessary with gum surgery.

Not only does LANAP arrest the development of periodontal disease and the damage it causes, the procedure helps to reduce tooth loss that is often the result of advanced gum disease. Chances of gum disease reoccurring are greatly reduced because of the re-growth of connective tissues, and side effects experienced by patients from the procedure are minimal.

Since periodontal disease has been linked to heart disease, it can absolutely be a “silent killer” that needs to be treated. At this point is time, the LANAP procedure is the most effective and most desirable procedure available for the treatment of this disease.

Author Bio: After graduating as a Doctor of Medical Dentistry in 1988 Dr. Vito Clarizio started his own practice in Whitestone, NY and has been in private practice in this location for over 20 years. He is loved by both his patients and his staff. Visit WhitestoneGentleDentist.com

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: periodontics, periodontal disease, gum disease, gum surgery, advanced dentistry