Laser Therapy Essay

While both laser therapy and scaling and root planing are both effective treatment methods for periodontal disease, scaling and root planing is used as a traditional method also called a deep cleaning while laser therapy is used as a relatively new alternative therapy. Both methods are usually used for patients who have periodontal disease with gingival pocket depths over 4mm. Though scaling and root planing has been the conventional treatment in the past, since 2008 laser therapy has doubled in usage. Scaling and root planing is a non-surgical way of cleaning periodontium by removing plaque, calculus and some bacteria in gingival pockets. Laser therapy is a non-surgical periodontal therapy that removes plaque, calculus, bacteria and toxins so that periodontium can become healthy and re-attach to teeth. Laser therapy does not yet have the American Dental Association endorsement seal of acceptance for using it over scaling and root planing as the best treatment. The typical periodontal therapy includes a pre-rinse antimicrobial mouth rinse, anesthetic if needed, ultrasonic instrumentation, hand instrumentation (and if lasers therapy) laser usage. The most common laser used in therapy is the diode laser both
When observing patients that had laser therapy performed on them it was found that this treatment improved tissue color and contour while also showing there is faster reattachment of tissue. On the other side, scaling and root planning is most effective for removing plaque and calculus. When adding laser therapy to a dental office it also comes along with training staff and hygienist on the use of lasers. Training is a necessary component when adding on this method. Traditionally, when scaling and root planning is done in an office the hygienist needs to have a dentist