It's an infection of the gums. It starts out as plaque, an opaque film on the teeth that hardens to form calculus or tartar. As tartar accumulates, it harbors bacteria which attacks the soft tissue around the gums. This early stage of gum disease is called Gingivitis. Symptoms include red swollen gums, bleeding, bad breath and, sometimes, an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Untreated, Gingivitis becomes Periodontitis. At this severe stage, bacteria destroys both the gums and the supporting bone structurel Pockets form where teeth are separated from the gums and surrounding bones. Left untreated, Periodontitis eventually results in tooth loss.
Laser Periodontal Therapy (LPT)™ a patented new non-surgical laser alternative to gum surgery, is a less painful, less traumatic way to treat periodontal disease at any stage.
LPT™ uses a special kind of laser called the PerioLase®, invented by two dentists in Cerritos, California. Dr. Robert Gregg and Dr. Delwin McCarthy spent years developing a better way to treat gum disease. The laser fiber, which is only about as wide as a couple of human hairs, is inserted between the gum tissue and your tooth, where it painlessly removes the noxious elements that cause gum disease.
LPT™ doesn't take much time at all - just two two-hour sessions versus eight to ten one-hour sessions with surgery. You don't have to worry about bleeding, stitches or post-treatment infection, because your gums haven't been cut.
The sense of recovery is immediate, due to the laser's ability to seal blood vessels, lymphatics and nerve endings. Of course, your tissue needs time to recover, regenerate and heal over the course of time, but after LPT™, you can drive your car, go back to work, or do anything else you like.
The good news is, LPT is actually less expensive- by about 20% - than periodontal surgery. There is no special code for our therapy, so if your insurance company will reimburse for conventional surgery, they will reimburse for LPT.
