Laser Dentistry: 'Almost Like Science Fiction'
By Lois Thomson

For those of you who still step into a dentist's office with sweaty palms and pounding hearts, your day has come! Dr. Robert Luther, Jr. offers laser dentistry that in many cases can eliminate the needles, anesthesia, and resultant face-numbing associated with filling cavities.
Dr. Luther uses a laser technique, which, he said, "is primarily designed to do cavity fillings and cavity preparations – often, but not always, without anesthesia. I'd say about 70 to 75 percent of the time you can do cavities without anesthesia, and those would be for new cavities. It is not effective for cavities that need to be replaced, like old fillings; traditional methods are still used for that."
In describing the process, Dr. Luther said, "(The laser) is like a wand, almost like a pen, and it has a little curved glass tip on the end, about the size of a pin. And the glass tip emits a burst of energy, so you don't actually touch the tooth with it. The energy seeks out the water molecules in the decay and it sort of explodes those water molecules – it pulverizes the decay. It's almost like science fiction – you shoot a laser beam and something disappears."
He added that the laser removes only the decay, which is then restored with a tooth-colored bonded filling. This eliminates the need for cutting in extra retention, which is necessary for silver fillings, resulting in loss of tooth structure.
Lasers can also be used to help detect early decay. "We use a diagnostic laser, called a diagnodent, in all of our exams," Dr. Luther explained. "It detects cavities that are under the surface, ones that can't be seen by traditional methods of using a probe or using your eyes. We're finding a lot of cavities we weren't able to detect before and we find them at an early stage. So that, in conjunction with the laser treatment, allows us to do cavities before they get too large, and to do them without anesthesia. It works really well together, and patients love it."
Do any problems exist with the laser treatment? "No, it's extremely safe," Dr. Luther replied. "It tends to sterilize as it works, so it's very clean. There really are no precautions, other than the patients and the doctors wear protective glasses."
Dr. Luther’s practice, located near The Mall at Robinson, provides care to adults and children. Among the array of services are placement of implants, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, splints for relief of headaches and facial pain because of clenching and grinding of the teeth, and all other aspects of general dentistry, including laser dentistry.

For more information, call (412) 788-6300 or visit www.pittsburghlaserdentist.com.

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