LANAP® Laser Treatment – Temple, TX
An Easier Way to Help Your Gums
Advanced gum disease is often tricky to treat. On the one hand, you’ll want to address its symptoms – bleeding, sensitivity, loose teeth, etc. However, you may want to avoid a painful treatment as well. The infection can then leave you with a heavy decision to make. Luckily, our office has a solution: LANAP® laser treatment. This procedure is a pain-free way to manage infected gums. Please keep reading to learn more, or book a consultation at our office.
What’s LANAP® Laser Treatment?
Scaling and root planing are the standard ways to treat gum disease. However, they aren’t the only ones around. Another great option is LANAP® laser treatment.
LANAP® is an acronym that stands for laser-assisted new attachment procedure. Put simply, it refers to a laser treatment that avoids the need for standard gum surgery. This service uses a beam of light – not a scalpel – to kill the bacteria behind your infection. In doing so, it leaves healthy tissue behind to reattach to your teeth and protect your tooth roots.
Generally, the patients most suited for LANAP® have severe gum disease. Their cases involve gum pockets with depths between 5 and 6 millimeters. They may also have pockets that are inoperable or that have been reinfected. All that said, the best way to learn if LANAP® suits you is to consult our office.
The LANAP® Laser Process
Depending on your needs, the LANAP® process takes roughly one to two hours. It’s then followed by a careful but fast recovery.
A LANAP® laser treatment is fairly simple. First, Dr. Fossum will probe your gums to assess the level of treatment needed for each tooth. He’ll then use a PerioLase MVP-7 laser to target the infected layer of gum tissue. At a later point, Dr. Fossum will also use ultrasonic scalers to remove built-up tartar. Once your gum tissue connects to the roots, he’ll make last-minute adjustments to prevent new tartar buildup.
It’s rather easy to recover from the LANAP® process. Overall, you should be fine after 24 hours – much faster than the 2-4 weeks that regular gum surgery takes. You won’t face much (if any) discomfort during this period, either. Still, take some ibuprofen every 4-6 hours to be safe. You also shouldn’t be alarmed by any color changes in your gums post-therapy.
The Benefits of LANAP® Laser Treatment
LANAP® laser treatment has many perks for patients who get it. These include:
- Reduced Discomfort – While a surgery, LANAP® laser treatment doesn’t use a scalpel or sutures. Its laser also cauterizes the area on contact, reducing your discomfort.
- No Gum Recession – LANAP® doesn’t involve cutting or suturing, so there’s minimal gum shrinkage. That means it’ll preserve more of your beautiful smile.
- Less Gum Bleeding – By cauterizing the treatment sites, LANAP® causes little bleeding and eases inflammation.
- Fast Healing – LANAP® is minimally invasive and thus allows for faster healing. Your gums will recover from it shortly!