Variable-pulsed Nd:YAG dental laser delivers hope for hopeless teeth and implants by regenerating bone and tissues destroyed by periodontitis and peri-implantitis
Dr. Todd Sheffler spent more than 20 years performing traditional periodontal surgery, following techniques he learned from top periodontists at the University of Maryland and during his residency. But over time, he found an alternative that is less invasive for patients and differentiates his practice.
“I had been doing conventional periodontal surgery for years, and I wanted something more acceptable to patients and also less taxing on me physically,” he explained. “I’ve always prided myself on having a high-tech practice, and the PerioLase MVP-7 turned out to be the missing piece.”
Blasting Away Peri-Implantitis
With the PerioLase MVP-7, Dr. Sheffler's practice and patients benefit from dozens of proprietary laser procedures, including the LANAP protocol for moderate to severe periodontitis. The same laser that regenerates bone and soft tissue destroyed by periodontitis also can be applied to implant cases with the LAPIP protocol to treat failing implants, as well as the BLAST protocol to help prevent peri-implantitis altogether.
“It just makes sense to use the PerioLase MVP-7 in extraction sites in osteotomies to help disinfect those areas and create a stable blood clot to place the implant into,” he explained. “With the BLAST protocol, I saw a very quick drop in peri-implantitis cases and an increase in implant success rates.” Dr. Sheffler pointed out that the BLAST protocol can be used for a diverse range of cases from single-tooth implants to full-arch. “It lets us disinfect the osteotomy without altering the bone and enhance the biocompatibility of titanium before implant placement," he said. "We also use the laser every 3 months to disinfect around implants, which has virtually eliminated peri-implantitis in our practice.”
Patients Take Notice
For patients, laser treatment is a completely different experience compared to the alternative.
“We don’t prescribe narcotics, we don’t need sutures— it’s just so much more patient-friendly,” Dr. Sheffler noted. “Treatment acceptance is well over 90% vs just 35% for traditional surgery." Crediting proper training as essential to successful onboarding, he concluded, “The live patient training that Millennium Dental provides is far superior to anything I’ve ever had with any other laser company."
