ezlase diode laser dentistry cold canker sores

The ezlase is a soft tissue diode laser. The "diode" refers to the type of laser, or its source of power. The "soft tissue" refers to what the laser is designed to work on.

The ezlase is designed for various dental applications which involve, but are not limited to, recontouring gum tissue (works very well around erupting wisdom teeth), frenectomies, removal of soft tissue "lumps", and decreasing healing time and recurrence of cold sores.

Is the ezlase safe?

When used properly the use of the ezlase is as safe as any other dental procedure. One of the nice things about the ezlase over other lasers I have used, is its increased range of power settings. This provides effective use while minimizing any unwanted tissue damage. You will notice, however, that when the ezlase is in use the dentist and assistant will have special glasses on. These glasses are to protect their eyes from the light emitted from the laser when it is in use. The patients will just be asked to close their eyes as they do not need to be able to see during the procedure.

Why the ezlase?

There are many lasers out there which are all very effective at what they do. With the lasers I have used in the past I found them hard to keep clean and overall to cumbersome. The ezlase is designed for ease of use, and for infection control. With its sleek design and cordless foot pedal a lot of the hassles with the use of other lasers is removed. Most importantly, this laser has individual replaceable tips which are discarded after each use, and the handpiece is detachable for sterilizing after each use. This greatly increases the ability to maintain proper infection control measures when using the ezlase.

How will it benefit me (the patient) the most?

In addition to improved quality of treatment for various procedures, the biggest benefit noted by my patients in the past has been its use to treat cold sores. When used on a cold sore within the first 1-3 days (the sooner the better), the discomfort and healing time is greatly reduced. Some of my patients have even noticed a decrease in the recurrence rate of the sores (just ask my assistant Christel).

The ezlase does this by heating the skin in the area of the developing sore. This dries out the skin as well as killing off some of the virus and infected skin cells. The result is skipping past the itchy blistering stage of the sore to the scabbing healing stage of the sore. By reducing the time of the blistering stage, this helps to decrease the potential spread of the virus causing the sore, to surrounding areas.

Additionally, with using the laser to remove various lumps, or reshape gum tissue around erupting wisdom teeth, etc. patients have noticed decreased discomfort compared to more traditional techniques. This is primarily due to the ability of the laser to help a "scab" form on the surface where more traditional techniques would be leaving raw skin exposed, or would have required stitches.

Check out the following case for an example of the use of the ezlase. Also see the photo gallery for more photos.

The following photos are an example of recontouring gum tissue with the ezlase. This patient had overgrown gum tissue lining the bottom front teeth. This made cleaning uncomfortable, as well as more difficult. The patient was also having some problems with a crown and the source of the problem was abundantly clear once the overgrown tissue was trimmed away. This treatment took only a matter of minutes and there was no post operative bleeding. You can be the judge of the results.