LANAP

Patients with gum disease usually have a hard time eating food, brushing the teeth, and with many other routine activities involving the mouth. The most common gum diseases are gingivitis and periodontitis, which affect the soft gum tissues and the surrounding teeth and jawbone as well. Getting them treated at the earliest helps to restore oral health and prevents a lot of complications that could follow.

How are gum diseases treated conventionally?

When you visit Dr.Ellis to have the disease treated, a thorough diagnosis will be conducted. Dr.Ellis would remove the tartar from the teeth and roots by procedures called scaling and root planing. Next, the infected gum tissues will be cut and removed by a surgical process, which would require local anesthesia to numb the oral tissues. The wounds would be covered using sutures, and the healing period would span for a few weeks before you can resume your routine oral activities.

What is LANAP?

LANAP or Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure is a highly advanced alternative for conventional gum disease treatment. It doesn’t require anesthesia, surgical removal of the tissues, or sutures to cover the wounds. Here is how the procedure is carried out:

• The device consists of a fiber optic tip, which produces a highly intense beam of the laser. It will carefully be inserted in the gum pocket, i.e., between the gums and the tooth root.
• The diseased tissues lining the pocket will be instantly evaporated, and the wound underneath will be sealed. The gum pockets could house thousands of bacteria, acting as breeding grounds for them and infecting the surrounding tissues.
• The special feature of the LANAP is that it only targets the diseased tissues and leaves the adjoining healthy tissues unharmed.
• Next, an ultrasonic scaling tip is used to remove the hard and sticky tartar deposits from the tooth roots. The removed debris is washed away using a jet of water.
• The laser will be used to remove any remaining diseased tissues at the bottom of the gum pockets. This process also sterilizes the tissues and bone and removes the microbes completely.
• Once the tissues are removed using the laser, a clot would be formed. This helps the tissues to reattach to the roots and prevents the microbes and food residues from entering the gum pockets. This allows the gum tissues to regrow and regain optimum volume.

How Does LANAP Work?

The unique interaction between the oral tissues and the variable pulsed wavelength of the PerioLase MVP-7 1064 Nd: YAG dental laser, as well as the principles of laser physics, are the foundation of the LANAP protocol's success.

Water and hydroxyapatite do not absorb the 1064 wavelength, but hemoglobin and melanin do. In other words, the wavelength only affects the diseased tissue and spares the healthy tissue. For efficient bacterial killing, the laser light penetrates 4 mm beyond the tissue surface. The laser interacts with the hemoglobin after the area has been cleaned to form a stable fibrin clot.

Benefits of LANAP

The LANAP protocol is a highly effective and minimally invasive laser treatment that treats gum disease. The laser removes bacteria from the gums. It also reshapes the gum line and removes diseased tissue. The laser targets the disease rather than healthy tissue, so healing is quick, and patients experience minimal discomfort.

The LANAP protocol is a minimally invasive, gentle, and extremely effective treatment for gum disease. This laser dentistry treatment eliminates the need for scalpels or sutures. With LANAP, patients see results quickly, without surgery or pain. The LANAP protocol is a minimally invasive procedure, and patients can return to their daily routines immediately following treatment.

Please get in touch with us through online consultation or by calling us at (303) 422-2502, and we’ll guide you further.