Dentistry

How are lasers used in Dentistry?

Dentistry is a unique clinical specialty that has technological advancements as its core foundation for patient care. Leading the biomaterials and biomedical device incorporation into daily clinical practice, light devices have played a central role in the dental armamentarium. They are utilized in a wide range of clinical applications with simple uses such as  intraoral illumination, light-cured composites, and photobleaching (tooth whitening). 

Benefits of lasers and energy-based devices in Dentistry

High power lasers are popular in dentistry as precise soft tissue surgical tools that provide a bloodless field (photothermal coagulation). Additionally, they are also used for photodynamic applications where absorption by pigmented lesions (endogenous or enhanced by exogenous dyes) results in selective destruction. While this is extensively utilized in dermatology and oncology, dentistry has also extended this application to target pathogenic bacteria (biofilms) in periodontal defects and within root canals.

Recent Advances in Laser Dentistry

Most lasers previously were bulky and awkward for clinical use. Significant technological advancements have made sophisticated and compact laser devices available for routine dental care. Multiple innovative applications are being developed that encompass clinical theranostics (diagnoses/prognoses and therapy). 

Some examples of the increasing popularity of laser technology include multimodal optical imaging, caries detection, premalignancies screening, optical coherence tomography, multi-photon, and photoacoustic, among others, hard tissue ablation, and reducing pain, inflammation, and promoting healing with low power therapies termed photobiomodulation (low level light therapy).

Current exciting developments include the expanding availability of hard tissue ablative dental lasers that promise vibration-free and more comfortable tooth drilling patient experiences. Further, there are exciting new advances in clinical applications of lasers in dentistry that include increasing resistance to tooth demineralization, differential ablation (decayed versus normal tooth structure), and regeneration of hard and soft tissue by promoting stem cell differentiation, among others.

Updated September 2, 2014