The distress of periodontal disease is huge. Although the general population of the United States is under the belief that his scourge is solely a torture for the elderly — this is very far from being true in any sense of the word. The fact of the matter is that the renowned American Academy of Periodontology has recently discovered that an amazing forty-seven percent of American adults — that’s nearly half of the general population — suffer from one form of gum disease or another. Alongside the devastating pain that gum disease can inflict on a person, it can also affect their confidence in their own smile, making them less willing to share it with society.
This dread disease starts as infection of the lower or upper gums, and quickly becomes a serious menace to your oral health. The precursor to periodontal disease is always a heavy buildup of plaque. If this buildup is not removed at regular intervals it hardens into what dentists call calculus, better known to the public as tartar. This tartar buildup is the playground of all sorts of bacillus which eat away at the enamel of the tooth until the nerve core is exposed, which leads to sharp pain and the eventual attenuation of the nerve itself if it is not taken care of by a dental professional. People who procrastinate having this serious condition taken care of risk the loss of their teeth. Fortunately, with gum surgery there is every chance of retaining all your teeth despite the seriousness of the infection.
Traditional gum surgery can be both painful and expensive, and does not always eradicate the problem completely. Laser gum surgery, on the other hand, is practically painless and extremely fast and convenient. But let’s take a look at these two options before deciding on which is better:
Traditional gum surgery
This type of surgery is often called flap surgery. Your entire mouth is anesthetized prior to the oral surgeon cutting away at the infected flap of gum to reveal the base of the teeth and sometimes even the nerve strands. The operation can take several hours. Afterwards there is some residual bleeding and pain, although it is usually not very severe or extensive. It will be several day, perhaps weeks, before you can eat solid food again after having such traditional gum surgery. This type of surgery is now being relegated to only the most severe cases of gum infection, where the disease has spread extensively and threatens the entire jawline.
Laser gum surgery
This type of convenient surgery is often called LANAP, which stands for Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure. It is performed by Dr. Rose and others in a regular dental office and does not require a special trip.
This new procedure uses a tiny periodontal laser-like probe which removes infected tissue inside the gingival pocket extremely quickly, before the mouth’s pain receptors can be activated. It is always effective against any type of periodontitis.
The infected area is first numbed with a mild local anesthetic. Then the tiny probe is inserted directly into the tooth pocket to destroy the infected tissue without any invasive surgery required. The procedure also eliminates any surrounding bacterial residue and leaves a blood clot behind which will sterilize the immediate area and prevent any further infection.
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