• Location
    1970 N. Main St
    Salinas, CA 93906
  • Contact Us
    (831) 424-4230

Dental Lasers

We are constantly learning and striving to advance the standard of patient care in our office. We have recently purchased a dental laser and are excited to let you know about a few of the procedures we can now offer:

  • Laser Bacterial Reduction
  • Laser Treatment of Canker Sores and Cold Sores (Prevention and Reduced Healing Time)
  • Laser Root Desensitization

Laser Bacterial Reduction

In addition to treating gum disease with removal of mechanical irritants and diseased tissue (your normal cleaning) we can also address the underlying infection that causes it with a procedure called Laser Bacterial Reduction (LBR). This procedure is painless, takes less than 10 minutes and reduces the bacteria around your gums from billions to hundreds. With that in mind Dr. Kim recommends that all of our patients have their teeth decontaminated prior to cleaning appointments for three major reasons:

To reduce or eliminate bacteremias

  • During the normal cleaning process most patients will have some areas that may bleed, this allows bacteria that are present in all of our mouths to flood into the bloodstream and sometimes settle in weakened areas of our body such as a damaged heart valve or artificial knee or hip etc. We pre-medicate those patients that we know have a heart condition or artificial joints with antibiotics so that these bacteria can't cause harm to these areas. Latest research shows that these oral pathogens have now been linked to a number of other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, low birth weight babies, diabetes etc. Needless to say anything that we can do to reduce or eliminate these bacteremias is a positive for our patients
  • To prevent cross contamination of infections in one area of your mouth to other areas.
  • Decontamination minimizes the chance that we may inadvertently pick up bacterial infection in one area of your mouth and move it to others.
  • To kill periodontal disease bacteria
  • By killing the bacteria we can stop their infections before they cause physical destruction or loss of attachment around your teeth.

We highly recommend that you take advantage of this service as part of your routine cleaning.

Laser Treatment of Canker Sores and Cold Sores

We are equally excited to introduce laser treatment of apthous ulcers (canker sores) and Herpes I (cold sores), which promote reduced healing times. In the case of cold sores, when caught in the tingling, burning period, it can actually prevent the cold sore from ever appearing on your lip. If you are a patient of record and have had the misfortune of experiencing one of these painful lesions, please do not hesitate to call our office the minute symptoms begin.

This service is provided free of charge to all patients of record.

Laser Root Desensitization

Sensitive teeth can be caused by many things. Most of the time people brush too hard with too much tooth paste and cause their root surfaces to wear. Roots have the tendency to wear at a much faster rate because the tooth is softer at the root. The treatment is easy. The teeth are desensitized with the laser and a tooth colored filling to match is often placed over the root surface to protect it. Often no anesthetic is used or only a liquid topical is used. A desensitizing sealer is then placed over the filling. A tooth paste is prescribed or recommended specific to each patient.

Feel free to ask us at your next appointment how our lasers can make your experience at our office more comfortable, efficient, and effective!