Does anybody know of any Perio residencies incorporating lasers?

[The Godfather]

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Preferably the kind with sharks attached to them - haha. Of course LANAP is becoming popular these days with GPs. I just went to a lecture for my implant study club by a Periodontist (and not sponsored by a Laser company) who has had really great results using lasers in perio treatment. Just wondering if any of the "old guard" in the programs are exploring any of this. You know how long it can take dental schools to try new things.

 

[Quattro DMD]

Preferably the kind with sharks attached to them - haha. Of course LANAP is becoming popular these days with GPs. I just went to a lecture for my implant study club by a Periodontist (and not sponsored by a Laser company) who has had really great results using lasers in perio treatment. Just wondering if any of the "old guard" in the programs are exploring any of this. You know how long it can take dental schools to try new things.

I externed at 9 perio programs over the summer and I only saw one student using a laser for simple scaling. Other than that I didn't see anyone else incorporating lasers into the training. I know the AAP has yet to endorse lasers/LANAP so maybe some schools are using them in a research capacity but not for regular treatment.

 

[caffeinehigh]

When Yukna was the chair Colorado was teaching it to third years, but now that he is gone I'm not sure what the status of that is.

There are a lot of studies that don't show any benefit of use with a laser (diode or Nd:YAG) and only a few that show any benefit at all, so most programs are not really jumping to embrace it.

Some programs will have a diode to do some frenectomy etc but I didn't see anybody using it for Periodontal disease therapy.

 

[wigglytooth]

We are getting some laser background at Stony Brook, to the credit of Dr. Georgios Romanos. He speaks a lot about doing laser therapies at Rochester when he was program director there. He doesn't seem to "buy" the LANAP procedure per se but is interested in lasers for decontamination, increasing KT, excisional biopsies, frenectomies, etc. We'll see if/when we actually get to do any of this.

 

[The Godfather]

Thanks! Yukna was the one who gave the lecture. Great speaker.

 

[caffeinehigh]

Thanks! Yukna was the one who gave the lecture. Great speaker.

I would be weary about listening to him regarding LANAP. He is a paid speaker for millennium lasers and also has a history of supporting various things with questionable research that didn't really pan out.... ENAP, Bio-Coral, etc.....

 

[caffeinehigh]

We are getting some laser background at Stony Brook, to the credit of Dr. Georgios Romanos. He speaks a lot about doing laser therapies at Rochester when he was program director there. He doesn't seem to "buy" the LANAP procedure per se but is interested in lasers for decontamination, increasing KT, excisional biopsies, frenectomies, etc. We'll see if/when we actually get to do any of this.

How do you increase AG with a laser?

 

[wigglytooth]

How do you increase AG with a laser?

I don't really understand it completely, but I think it is a similar concept to the split thickness flap/denudation techniques conventionally (described in the Lindhe textbook). The laser would do all the incisions/ablations and then create an eschar over the exposed CT to protect the site and slow the healing process so CT can mature. Sounds a lot less painful too. But I don't know how the laser procedure compares with the predictability of a good old free gingival graft - I don't think any one really does.