The word Laser is actually an acronym and refers to a beam of light. The term, which is now an everyday word in our daily lives, is used to describe both for the beam of light and the device that produces it .

Laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Lasers are used in a variety of devices; from our cd-player to factories cutting or welding metals. This technology has found fertile ground of application in many areas of Medicine and by extension Dentistry.  The use Laser in Ophthalmology and Dermatology are well known and documented.

Dental Laser can be used for cutting hard or soft tissues. More specifically in Periodontology, laser is used mainly on soft tissues. Some laser devices are quite simple like the diode laser and others more advanced and expensive like Nd: YAG Laser, offering cutting-edge technology. The light beam acquires  its properties from the wavelength of the radiation. The properties that interest us are the absorption from water (and therefore from soft tissues)  and thus penetration depth into the tissues.

Nd: YAG lasers have properties that are more friendly to the tissues.

This type of laser can disect tissues without destroying them, which often occurs when using diode laser. Also, it  does not penetrate in depth and so it does not cause thermal shock to the underlying tooth or bone structures, avoiding patient discomfort and possible pain. It can be used over titanium surfaces such as implants, awariding this technology a top-level place in the arsenal of tackling peri-implantitis.

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