Laser Soft Tissue Applications 2

• 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 - refer below
• Operculectomy
• Oral papillectomies - refer below
• Pulpotomy - refer below
• Pulp extirpation - root canal therapy
• 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 of inflamed soft tissue
• Treatment of canker sores, herpetic and aphthous ulcers of the oral Mucosa
• Vestibuloplasty

Oral Papillectomies

Surgical removal of any papillac ( A small nipplelike projection, such as a protuberance (small buldge) on the skin, at the root of a hair or feather, or at the base of a developing tooth).

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Pulpotomy

A deep cavity in your child's baby tooth may go into the nerve or pulp of the tooth. In this case, a pulpotomy is recommended to save the tooth.
A pulpotomy of a baby tooth is similar to a root canal treatment of an adult tooth. It removes all the coronal pulp tissue from the chamber of the tooth. It prevents:

Unnecessary loss of teeth.

Your child's baby teeth are important to save in order to maintain the space for their adult teeth.

If the tooth is pulled than the space needed for the adult tooth will be lost leading to crowding and future need of braces.

Pulpotomy is recommended when decay has extended deep into the tooth reaching the tooth's nerve possibility causing an abscess or the tooth has fractured exposing the nerve.

During this procedure only the infected tissue in the tooth is removed. A medicated filling is placed inside the tooth and a filling is used to restore your child's tooth.

We recommend that this tooth than be protected with a crown so it does not fracture saving your child from more unnecessary pain and tooth loss.

The success of the pulpotomy depends on the severity of the infection and the body's own immune system.
If the pulpotomy fails an extraction (removal) of the tooth will be recommended This is only done when every other avenue to save the tooth has been tried. The space left after the extraction will need to be saved to help a permanent tooth come in. A space maintainer appliance will be recommended to save this space.

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Vestibuloplasty

Those procedures designed to widen the zone of attached gingiva and deepen the vestibular depth which will facilitate the clearance of the area for natural food passage, and provide access for toothbrushing and interdental stimulation.

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Leukoplakia

Leukoplakia is a condition in which thickened, white patches form on your gums, on the inside of your cheeks and sometimes on your tongue — usually as a result of chronic irritation. Tobacco, either smoked or chewed, is the main culprit, but irritation can also come from ill-fitting dentures and long-term alcohol use.

Although anyone can develop leukoplakia, it's most common in older men. People with compromised immune systems sometimes develop an unusual form of the disorder called hairy leukoplakia.
In general, leukoplakia isn't painful, but the patches may be sensitive when you touch them or eat spicy foods. And though the disorder usually isn't dangerous, it can be serious. A small percentage of leukoplakic patches show early signs of cancer, and many cancers of the mouth (oral cancers) occur next to areas of leukoplakia. For that reason, it's best to see your dentist if you have unusual changes in your mouth lasting longer than a week.

Signs and symptoms
Leukoplakia first appears as flat, gray sores — usually on your gums or on the insides of your cheeks and sometimes on your tongue. Over weeks or months, leukoplakic sores develop into patches with the following characteristics:
- White color
- Thick, rough texture
- Hardened surface

Sometimes you may also have raised red lesions (erythroplakia), which are more likely to show precancerous changes.
A type of leukoplakia called hairy leukoplakia primarily affects people whose immune systems have been weakened by medications or disease, especially HIV or AIDS. Hairy leukoplakia causes fuzzy, white patches that resemble folds or ridges on the sides of your tongue. It's often mistaken for oral thrush — an infection marked by creamy white patches on the pharynx and the insides of the cheeks that's also common in people with HIV/AIDS.

Causes

Most often, leukoplakia results from chronic irritation of your mouth's delicate tissues. The irritation can come from a number of sources, including poorly-fitting dentures, rough spots on your teeth or fillings, tooth grinding or long-term alcohol use.
But tobacco use is responsible for most cases of leukoplakia. The vast majority of people who develop leukoplakia are smokers, and most leukoplakic patches either improve or disappear within a year after stopping smoking. Chewing tobacco and snuff also play a key role — as many as three out of four regular users of "smokeless tobacco" products eventually develop leukoplakia where they hold the tobacco against their cheeks.
Researchers also have identified both Candida albicans, the fungus that causes oral thrush, and human papillomavirus, the virus that causes genital warts, in leukoplakic patches. But it's not known whether these microorganisms occur as a secondary infection or actually cause leukoplakia.

Hairy leukoplakia
Hairy leukoplakia results from infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EVB). Most people are initially exposed to EVB in childhood — often without having any symptoms. But once you've been infected with EBV, the virus remains in your body for life. Normally, the virus is dormant, but if your immune system is weakened, either from disease or certain medications, it can become reactivated, leading to conditions such as hairy leukoplakia.
People living with HIV or AIDS are especially likely to develop hairy leukoplakia. Although the use of anti-retroviral drugs has reduced the number of cases, hairy leukoplakia still may affect as many as one-fourth of HIV-positive people, and may be one of the first signs of HIV infection.

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