SkyPulse® Endo Laser by Fotona

There are over 20 million root canal procedures being performed each year in the United States alone. For years, dental practitioners have used traditional methods to treat root canals, but today research studies are showing that root canal irrigation is more beneficial when completed with laser therapy instead. Why is a laser more beneficial? It all comes down to better cleanliness and patient comfort.

“[Traditional root canal treatments] is not cleaning everything out. It’s only cleaning a small, tiny percentage of the dentinal tubules, leaving a ton of bacteria and toxins behind — but with the laser, you’re sterilizing cell layer by cell layer, and it’s really incredible.” says Board-certified endodontist, Dr. Valerie Kanter. “When you use a drill, there’s tons of air and water, and blasting it creates major pain and sensitivity into the tooth structure. However, you actually don’t even need anesthesia for a [root canal] treatment like this with the laser because it’s so gentle on the tooth structure.”

“I use a Fotona erbium YAG laser, and my whole life has changed since I started incorporating this into my practice.”
— Dr. Valerie Kanter

With Fotona’s SkyPulse^® Endo Laser, practices are able to add SWEEPS^® to their treatment offering — a revolutionary method for chemically cleaning and debriding the root canal system using laser energy at sub-ablative power levels. SWEEPS^® harnesses the power of the Er:YAG laser to create photoacoustic shock waves within the cleaning and debriding solutions introduced in the root canal. The minimally invasive instrumentation preserves more of the natural tooth structure and thereby improve strength and integrity. Those can also be used for many different regenerative procedures and endodontics.

Dr. Kanter says, “Lasers are making a huge wave in dentistry. With photobiomodulation or a low-level laser, you can actually stimulate the mitochondria inside the tissues, upregulating ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production, collagen synthesis, and angiogenesis. We do these low-level laser procedures on every single patient who’s coming to see me, and it’s profound, the amount of healing and the reduction of pain and inflammation that we can see with this.”

By using synchronized pairs of ultra-short pulses, an accelerated collapse of laser-induced bubbles is achieved, leading to enhanced shock wave emission inside even the narrowest root canals. The precise waves of energy thoroughly clean the complex root canal system that traditional methods can sometimes miss. The containment of the shock waves thoroughly streams these solutions through the entire canal system, enhancing their effectiveness.

“I think one of the top things that patients are looking for in a practitioner is which one is going to resonate with the things that they want — the answer is a dentist who offers some of these regenerative procedures and is using this laser therapy.” Dr. Kanter continues, “It’s becoming more and more popular, but only about 10% of dentists are using dental lasers right now. I use a Fotona erbium YAG laser, and my whole life has changed since I started incorporating this into my practice.”

This information was provided by Fotona.