Laser in dentistry. Soft-tissue procedures.

Dentistry has entered the 1990s, an era of high technology. The dental laser offers the dentist not only a window, but a door into this high-tech arena. All of the advantages lasers offer, from bloodless procedures to minimal postoperative pain and from reduction of operative time to high patient acceptance, indicate that lasers are great dental instruments for today and the future. As a futuristic idea, the ideal laser for dentistry would be able to work well, not only in soft tissue, but in hard tissue. Envision a laser with multiple wavelengths in the same unit: one for incision, another for removal of hard tissue, and yet still another for making tissue "sticky" for flap placement and tissue welding. So often dentists are associated with pain, fear, and the noise of the high-speed drill. The laser certainly helps to dispel these stereotypes and apprehensions, and to bring dentistry into a new era.