Abstract
Based on the various characteristics such as ablation or vaporization, hemostasis, and sterilization effect, laser treatment has been expected to serve as an alternative or adjunctive therapy to the conventional, mechanical instrumentation in periodontal therapy. The CO2 and Nd: YAG lasers have been approved for soft tissue treatment in periodontics and oral surgery because of their excellent ability for soft tissue ablation accompanied by hemostatic effect. However, these lasers have not shown an effectiveness for the treatment of hard tissues such as the root surface and alveolar bone due to major thermal side-effects to the target and surrounding tissues. Therefore, in periodontics the use of these laser systems has been limited in the soft tissue surgery. Recently, the use of Er: YAG laser has been developed in dentistry and its excellent ability for both of soft and hard tissue ablation has been revealed. The appearance of the Er: YAG laser, of which promising characteristic shows high absorbability in water, has increased laser applications in periodontal treatment as well as in dental caries treatment. In this communication, we report our basic and clinical studies on the Er: YAG laser application to scaling, soft tissue removal, and bone surgery.
