Why Are We Recommending Laser Bacterial Reduction?

Here at Fidler on the Tooth, we are constantly learning and striving to advance the standard of patient care in our office. As such, we added an optional procedure to your routine cleaning care to help fight periodontal disease.

Periodontal disease and gingivitis affects approximately 80% of adults. It is a growing epidemic in our society.  Understanding of this disease has increased greatly over the last few years.  It is known that periodontal disease is a bacterial infection in the pockets around the teeth. The disease is treated with removal of plaque/tartar and diseased tissue at your regular cleaning appointment. But, we also want to address the underlying infection that causes it. With that in mind, we recommend that our patient have laser bacterial reduction (LBR)  at their cleaning appointments.

Here are three major reasons why we recommend LBR:

1. 1. Reduce or eliminate bacteria.  During the normal cleaning process most patients will have some areas that may bleed. This allows bacteria that are present in all of our mouths to flood into the bloodstream causing it to sometimes settle in weakened areas of our body, such as, a damaged heart valve or artificial joint.  Research shows that these oral pathogens have now been linked to a number of other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, low birth weight babies, diabetes, etc.  Needless to say, anything that we can do to reduce or eliminate these bacteremias is a benefit for our patients.
   2. Help prevent cross contamination of infections in one area of your mouth to other areas. Bacterial reduction minimizes the chance that we may inadvertently pick up bacterial infection in one area of your mouth and move it to others.
   3. Kill periodontal disease bacteria and stop infections before they cause destruction or loss of attachment around your teeth.

What you need to know about LBR:

• • Laser bacterial reduction is $30 and is NOT covered by insurance.  Unfortunately, insurance coverage is almost always behind the leading edge in high tech health care.
  • The laser bacterial reduction process is painless and normally takes about 3-5 minutes.

We highly recommend that you take advantage of this service as part of your routine cleaning. Make sure you ask our hygienists about it at your next cleaning appointment.

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Fun Fact:

The soft tissue laser used for LBR can also be used to treat cold and canker sores. Feel free to contact us for more details!

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