Waterlase Dentistry™ Clinical Uses
Waterlase® was first cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cut tooth structure in 1998, and since that time has received numerous additional clearances from the FDA for a wide range of procedures on teeth, bone and gum tissue.
Laser Hard Tissue Applications
Hard Tissue Procedures
- Class I, II, III, IV and V cavity preparation
- Caries removal
- Hard tissue surface roughening or etching
- Enameloplasty, excavation of pits and fissures for placement of sealants
Laser Soft Tissue Applications I
Soft Tissue Procedures Including Pulpal Tissues
- Excisional and incisional biopsies
- Exposure of unerupted teeth
- Fibroma removal
- Flap preparation – incision of soft tissue to prepare a flap and expose the bone
- Flap preparation – incision of soft tissue to prepare a flap and expose unerupted teeth (hard and soft tissue impactions)
- Frenectomy and frenotomy
- Gingival troughing for crown impressions
- Gingivectomy
- Gingivoplasty
- Gingival incision and excision
- Hemostasis
Laser Soft Tissue Applications II
- Implant recovery
- Incision and drainage of abscesses
- Laser soft tissue curettage of the post-extraction tooth sockets and the periapical are during apical surgery
- Leukoplakia
- Operculectomy
- Oral papillectomies
- Pulpotomy
- Pulp extirpation
- Pulpotomy as an adjunct to root canal therapy
- Root canal debridement and cleaning
- Reduction of gingival hypertrophy
- Soft tissue crown lengthening
- Sulcular debridement (removal of diseased and inflamed soft tissue)
- Treatment of canker sores, herpetic and aphthous ulcers of the oral Mucosa
- Vestibuloplasty
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LASER COSMETIC PROCEDURES
BONE SURGICAL PROCEDURES
- Cutting, shaving, contouring and resection of oral osseous tissues (bone)
- Osteotomy
LASER ENDODONTICS
ROOT CANAL/ENDODONTIC PROCEDURES
- The Waterlase MD™ with Endolase™ Radial Firing Tips is indicated for disinfection of the root canal after endodontic instrumentation.
- Tooth preparation to obtain access to root canal
- Root canal preparation including enlargement
- Root canal debridement and cleaning
- Flap preparation – incision of soft tissue to prepare a flap and expose the bone Cutting bone to prepare a window access to the apex (apices) of the roots
- Apicoectomy
- Root end preparation for retrofill
- Removal of pathological tissues and hyperplastic tissue
LASER PERIODONTAL THERAPY
LASER PERIODONTAL PROCEDURES
- Full thickness flap
- Partial thickness flap
- Split thickness flap
- Laser soft tissue curettage
- Laser removal of diseased, infected, inflamed and necrosed soft tissue within the periodontal pocket
- Removal of highly inflamed edematous tissue affected by bacteria penetration of the pocket lining and junctional epithelium
- Removal of granulation tissue from bony defects
- Sulcular debridement (removal of diseased or inflamed soft tissue in the periodontal pocket to improve clinical indices including gingival index, gingival bleeding index, probe depth, attachment loss and tooth mobility)
- Osteoplasty and osseous recontouring (removal of bone to correct osseous defects and create physiologic osseous contours)
- Ostectomy (resection of bone to restore bony architecture, resection of bone for grafting, etc.)
- Osseous crown lengthening