LAAs (locally applied antimicrobials) have become the standard of care for many dental professionals, said John Lenart, OraPharma’s Senior Product Director for Arestin. Research has encouraged clinicians to include LAAs in their perio treatment protocol. It’s typically an easy, painless technique administered during a periodontal treatment. Clinicians place a small amount into a pocket, which then dissolves to provide better healing than mechanical treatment alone. This allows many patients to present at their recare appointments with better oral health and potentially avoid more costly, complicated treatment options. This makes patients happy and can free up chairtime for increased productivity.

“LAAs, combined with SRP, reduce the impact of perio disease,” he said. “That’s why patients are there. They want to know their dental care professionals are giving them the best possible, safest treatment available.”

Perio treatments continue to become more advanced, Dr. Genco said, describing innovations such as LAAs as remarkable. Dr. Graham also has noticed improvements—including those in instrumentation and lasers. Instrument shapes have vastly improved, and lasers continue to treat soft tissue in a patient-friendly manner.

Laser love

About 7% of respondents use laser-assisted scaling, planing, and debridement to treat perio, but professionals like Dr. Graham and Godett would like to see this percentage rise. They agree that lasers work well when combined with other treatments.

"In conjunction with lasers, LAAs can lower the count in the pocket. They can work symbiotically," Godett said. "I can go back with my laser at later appointments and again lower the bacteria count, giving LAAs a better chance at working."

Dr. Robert Gregg, CO-Founder of Millennium Dental Technologies (millenniumdental.com/periolase), said the PerioLase MVP-7 - a digital laser with defaults precalibrated for LANAP (laser-assisted new attachment procedure) - increases compliance and successful outcomes.

There is a lack of education in the dental community about lasers, Dr. Gregg said. But as lasers continue to prove to be effective, he expects them to become more popular.

“Most people are comfortable with what they’re doing and don’t want to change if everything else is fine in the practice,” he said. “Why invest in more equipment if everything is going pretty well? Resistance to change, capital investment, and to have to go learn a new skill are all things professionals don’t necessarily want to do.”

Lasers are less-invasive than many traditional treatment methods, said Alex Di Sessa, VP of Sales and Marketing for Zap Lasers (zaplasers.com). Laser energy is attracted to darker pigments that diseased tissue often has.

Some lasers are better for different procedures than others, Di Sessa said, so clinicians must do some research before deciding which laser is best for their practice.

Training is key, Di Sessa said, and it is something most manufacturers stress. It’s important to learn how to use the laser so that it doesn’t sit in a closet, and so patients reap the benefits.

“Scraping plaque and diseased tissue out is extremely painful for the patient and not really effective,” Di Sessa said. “It’s just procrastinating. The problem will come back six moths later because you’re not getting the source, which is bacteria.”

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