Laser root canals are precise, thorough, and nearly painless. These procedures are performed by dentists certified in dental laser technology, and patients generally find the procedure to be less intimidating than a traditional root canal.
Some dental lasers also utilize photoacoustic technology to flush out bacteria living deep in the dentin and its tubules. This improves treatment efficacy and better protects the tooth’s long-term health for patients.
Four Advantages of Using Dental Lasers for Root Canals
Houston Laser dentistry offers several benefits to patients, including:
Improved precision and thoroughness
In trained hands, a dental laser is far more precise than traditional metal instruments. This precision is valuable for root canals, as canal networks are complex and delicate. With greater precision, dentists can target dental tissues without causing damage to surrounding teeth or gums.
Laser root canals are also more comprehensive and effectively destroy bacteria that traditional root canals cannot reach.
Less invasive and less painful
In general, lasers are easier on tissues than metal dental instruments. They rarely cause anything more than minor pain or discomfort. Dental lasers are also noninvasive, which reduces pain further and eliminates the risk of significant bleeding.
Reduced recovery time
Because they cause less pain and tissue damage, patients recover quickly from laser root canals. Patients are back to their normal routine faster and with less discomfort in the interim.
No drilling necessary
Root canal surgery have long been associated with dental drills, the sound of which can drive patients into an anxious state. With laser root canals, no drilling is required, which means no whirring sound or spinning drill bit to worry about.
With these advantages, laser root canals are generally easier for patients to handle, even those with dental anxiety.
What is the Process for Laser Root Canals?
Laser root canals are similar to traditional root canals, except that they are less invasive and more precise than traditional methods. Here is what patients can expect during a laser root canal:
- An opening is shaped out of the infected tooth – To access the tissue inside the tooth, the dentist will first create a small opening in the crown of the tooth using the laser. Any decay is cleared away during this part of the process.
- A debriding solution is placed inside the tooth – With the tooth’s inner tissues and canals now accessible, the dentist will fill the tooth with a debriding solution. This solution has antimicrobial properties and kills off any bacteria resting inside the dentin tubules. As such, it’s a critical part of the root canal process and it is important that the debriding fluid reach as deep into the dentin and canals as possible.
- An endodontic probe shapes the tooth canal – The dentist will then push a fine, flexible probe through the pulp, into the canals and down to the apical foramen (the tooth’s ultimate base). This probe clears out infected tissue and opens up the canals for the debriding solution.
At this point, the tooth is ready for the laser, which is next used to agitate the solution and push it deeper into the canal network. If the dentist’s practice is equipped with the latest dental laser technology, this process will look like this:
- Super Short Pulse (SSP) irrigation – During SSP irrigation, the laser tip is placed just inside the pulp chamber and used to emit photoacoustic waves that agitate the debriding solution. No thermal energy is introduced to the tooth during this process and by agitating the solution, it is able to penetrate deeper into the canal network to eradicate hard-to-reach bacteria.
- Shock Wave Enhanced Emission Photo-acoustic Streaming (SWEEPS) – SWEEPS complements SSP irrigation by introducing cavitation into the solution, using the same photoacoustic laser technology. Cavitation causes small bubbles to form in the solution, and during a SWEEPS procedure, these bubbles are introduced to the solution in a timed fashion so they all rupture at the same time. The resulting shockwaves penetrate deep into the tooth’s canal network and remove the “smear” layer, or biofilm that bacteria create.
Following SSP and SWEEPS, the tooth’s internal structure has been thoroughly cleared of all bacteria and the infection is effectively removed. Now the dentist will finish the procedure during the following steps:
- Fill the tooth’s canals with a permanent material – A biocompatible, permanent material (typically gutta percha) is placed in the root canals to seal off the apical foramen and the tooth’s base.
- Fill the opening in the tooth – A second permanent filler material is placed in the pulp chamber and replaces its internal structure.
- Place a permanent crown – With the tooth cleaned, disinfected, cleared of decay, and filled, your dentist will install a permanent crown to cap the opening.
With the root canals completely cleaned out and filled, the tooth’s long-term health will be protected from future infections.
Meyerland Implant and Orthodontics, General Dentist Offers Laser Root Canals
Laser dentistry is an established discipline that’s been available for decades. Even so, it’s only offered by a small number of Houston dental practices. Our Houston dental practice is certified in laser dentistry and offers laser root canals as an option for patients.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a laser root canal different from a traditional one?
The goal is identical: remove the infected tissue from inside the tooth, clean the canals thoroughly and seal them. The difference is in the cleaning step. A laser can reach into the very fine side channels branching off the main canal, which mechanical instruments cannot always access, and it can help disinfect those spaces. In practice it is usually used alongside conventional instruments rather than replacing them entirely.
Can every root canal be done with a laser?
No. Some teeth have curved or unusually narrow canals that a laser fiber cannot follow, and some situations call for conventional instrumentation throughout. Molars with several canals are more demanding than a single-canal front tooth. Dr. Tummala will look at the X-ray and tell you what your particular tooth needs rather than deciding by preference.
Does using a laser make the treatment more likely to succeed?
It is one factor among several, and it would be overstating it to call it decisive. What determines the outcome of a root canal is how thoroughly the canal system is cleaned and sealed, how much healthy tooth structure is left, and how well the tooth is restored afterward. A laser is a tool that can help with the cleaning step. It is not a guarantee, and any practice suggesting otherwise is overselling it.
What is recovery like?
Most people describe some tenderness in the tooth for a few days, particularly when biting, as the surrounding tissue settles. That is normal and usually manageable with over the counter pain relief taken as directed on the package. Contact us if discomfort is increasing rather than easing, if there is swelling, or if the tooth still hurts to bite on after a week.
Could a laser clear the infection without a root canal at all?
No, and this is worth being direct about. Once the pulp inside a tooth is infected or dying, that tissue has to be removed and the space sealed. No laser treatment, antibiotic or rinse changes that. What antibiotics can sometimes do is settle an acute infection enough to make treatment more comfortable, but they do not fix the underlying problem, and the infection returns once they stop.