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Soft Tissue Laser Dentistry for the Pediatric Population
November 20, 2020 - November 21, 2020
Instructors:
- Athanasios Zavras, DDS, MS, DrMedSc
- Martin Kaplan, DMD
- Cathy Watson-Genna, BSc, IBCLC
- Peter Vitruk, PhD
Course Overview:
Laser technology now allows for a range of safe and effective procedures, to better serve our young patients. This course will provide fundamental knowledge that will enhance your understanding of the issues of pediatric laser dentistry. It will provide detailed instruction of how a laser can be used safely and effectively to perform gingivectomies, frenectomies, operculectomies, surgical exposures of impacted teeth and more. Special emphasis will be placed on infant tongue-tie and lip-tie releases since as many as 5-percent of newborns in the US have tongue-ties significant enough to cause breastfeeding difficulties.
A good surgical laser for cutting soft tissue must be able to vaporize soft tissue, while at the same time efficiently coagulating surgical margins. Not all laser wavelengths are suitable to comply with both requirements. This course focuses on the practical aspects of soft tissue laser surgery and on the fundamental processes involved in the laser-tissue interaction; it helps attendees learn how deep the laser beam cuts and how deep the coagulation and hemostasis extend into the surgical margins. Our hands-on participation lab is designed to train attendees on how to perform laser frenectomies safely and efficiently.