We already know that dental lasers help improve gum disease treatment, cavity detection, tooth prep, and more. But their list of incredible capabilities continues to grow. A new Harvard study found that low-energy lasers can stimulate a tooth’s dentin to regenerate. While our teeth are incredibly strong (and enamel is actually the hardest substance in the body), they’re not invincible – and they can’t heal on their own. But these laser findings could change all that.
Imagine a world in which your teeth are self-healing. This would mean that lost structure isn’t gone forever – you wouldn’t have to turn to restorations to rebuild your smile and its function. Instead of getting a veneer or crown, you could undergo gentle laser treatment and see long-term dentin regeneration. The laser triggers the production of dentin by stem cells within teeth, meaning the tooth can remain in place and be treated non-invasively. This is the kind of thing that we want for our patients – and we’ll be watching carefully to see how this develops.
Finding Laser Dental Care Today
In the meantime, there are already ways that you can benefit from laser treatment in the present, and at our Oakland dental practice.
- Reduce dental anxiety – Countless adults spend their lives struggling with dental anxiety. A fear of the office can keep you from scheduling regular exams, hold you back from cosmetic or restorative treatment, and impact your overall health and happiness. Because dental lasers look, sound, and feel vastly different from traditional dental tools, patients find them to be a breath of fresh air. Since they’re more comfortable, patients are also less likely to need shots of anesthesia, so they can limit or skip the pain and stress of injections.
- Speed up healing – Lasers help encourage a quick, comfortable healing process, allowing you to recover from your dental treatment ASAP.
- Enhance precision – The narrow laser beam is more precise and easily controlled and less invasive than many traditional dental tools.
Curious about what dental lasers can do? Get in touch!