[The CO2 laser in stomatology. Part 1].

Since its development in the early 60s of the last century, the CO2 laser has been rapidly introduced into medical research and almost every surgical specialty in medicine and dentistry. In dental surgery it is mainly used for oral soft tissue applications. For the treatment of some stomatologic lesions the CO2 laser is looked upon as the treatment method of choice, while for other lesions the evidence for its use is still not sufficient. The first part of this review discusses the typical aspects of wound healing in oral soft tissues following the application of a CO2 laser and will focus on histopathological issues of biopsies taken with a CO2 laser as compared to conventionally performed biopsies. The second part will review indications for the use of the CO2 laser for the therapy of stomatologic lesions.