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DIGITAL DENTISTRY
Achieving Maximum ROI for your Laser Investment (Continued from page 59)
Hygiene Department standpoint, the answer is an easy, “yes”. Or better yet, “YES!” When you decide to
invest in a laser, you can do as many or as few laser therapy applications as you wish.
Laser Bacterial Removal (LBR) is a method to decrease bacterial counts prior to a prophy, periodontal
maintenance or initial periodontal therapy. Time does not typically need to be added to the appointment
since it only takes an average of 8 minutes to treat the whole mouth. Your protocol for recommending
LBR can be as simple as noting an increase in pocket depth or bleeding upon probing during a periodontal
charting . Maybe you choose to treat every adult once per year with LBR as a preventative measure,
or just those with a systemic or periodontal history. These are just options, and a fee for a procedure can
vary from $15-$50 per visit. Because the laser helps with coagulation and post-op healing, it can be used
just to help those patients who complain of soreness following a hygiene procedure. That, alone, will earn
Sulcular debridement is similar to LBR but is utilized at the end of an initial therapy appointment. You
use the same laser, the same tip, but maybe the tip is initiated and necrotic tissue is being removed from
the diseased pocket. Some practices choose to keep the fee per session the same as LBR, or increase this
to $60-$200 per quadrant. It can also be incorporated into your SRP fee if you so choose.
Aside from periodontal uses, laser-assisted hygiene can include treating hypersensitive tooth surfaces,
as well as reduction of healing time for oral lesions including apthous ulcers, herpetic lesions and even
painful tongue bites. The fee range for these procedures can be in the $30-50 range and it would be at
your discretion if multiple sites are included for this cost. In my experience, treating a brand new herpetic
lesion is especially magical, because the lesion won’t continue on its path to an unsightly crusty lesion,
and your patient will love you for it!
$6 per tip, not much in additional chair time, and patients are thrilled you have a pain-free method of
improving the result of virtually any dental hygiene appointment you can offer.
Conclusion
The NVPRO3 microlaser is an excellent investment that can be used for many dental procedures. Uncov-
preparation, thus eliminating the need for retraction cord, for outstanding traditional polyvinyl siloxane
impressions, creating hemostasis around subgingival class V restoration preparations, allowing for
immediate composite placement are just a few of the daily clinical applications. Bacterial reduction and
laser assisted periodontal therapy are used to manage challenging intraoral issues. Finally, painful herpetic
lesions and apthous ulcerations are reduced and eliminated is quick time. The responses from our
satisfaction is increased, the procedures become minimally invasive and production increases.
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