Millennium Dental Technologies, manufacturer of the PerioLase MVP-7 laser, believes so strongly in training and continuing education that if you peruse their website, you’ll notice it’s the main focus of practically every page. They take this responsibility very seriously. Among the core values listed on the Education page is their belief that they are responsible for ensuring clinicians have the technology, knowledge, and skills to produce predictable and reproducible clinical results. Specifically, the predictable and reproducible results of True Periodontal Regeneration (new alveolar bone, new cementum, and new periodontal ligaments) when performing the LANAP protocol for the treatment of periodontitis. They back this core value with the only 6-month clinical results guarantee in dentistry. In fact, they require clinicians who purchase the PerioLase MVP-7 with the intention of practicing the LANAP Protocol to successfully complete extensive training through the Institute for Advanced Laser Dentistry (IALD) before Millennium will ship the equipment.
The IALD offers the LANAP Training Continuum, a year-long, hands-on program that involves treating live patients and dentist-to-dentist training led by Certified Instructors. The Training Continuum consists of a 5-day course spread out over a year. The first level is the laser BootCamp, an intense 3-day session that combines the dentist’s foundation of clinical knowledge with the specific knowledge needed to adjust LANAP treatment based on the patient’s individual needs. New owners are instructed in laser physics and the fundamentals of laser treatment, and treat a live patient. They are also instructed how to incorporate laser treatment into their practices and market it to their patients. Six months later, clinicians return for an overview of the principles of energy intensity and a more in-depth understanding of the laser settings so they can provide enhanced treatments more efficiently. The last day of the course, which concludes the year-long commitment, delves further into energy density and managing trickier cases. This overall program includes working with three certified IALD instructors on three different patients. The IALD is both an ADA CERP and AGD PACE recognized provider. Millennium also offers a library of free webinars at LANAP.com that reinforce knowledge and cover topics ranging from the general use of lasers in dentistry to periodontal and peri-implant applications. You’ll find videos and downloads on clinical cases and research on the website as well.
Millennium has built their educational platform based on adult learning styles, and offers a combination of lectures and hands-on patient treatment sessions so clinicians begin to build experience immediately. All IALD instructors are vetted through a rigorous application process, and then are trained in such a way that they are imparting information in a standardized and calibrated manner. In other words, they are all delivering the same, consistent information; no matter your instructor, you receive the same world-class education. Additionally, instructor candidates go through professional speaker training, learning the nuances of lecturing, how to conduct hands-on sessions, and how to properly correct any problems they run into with students.
Millennium Dental Technologies prides itself on elevating the standard of laser dental care by first arming clinicians with the proper information to be clinically successful, then supporting PerioLase MVP-7 users far beyond initial training and throughout the process of treating patients with periodontal disease. If you’re thinking about incorporating this minimally invasive and less painful treatment into your practice, visit the Millennium Dental Technologies and IALD websites to assess for yourself how robust and comprehensive the LANAP continuum training program is.