San Antonio Patients With Gum Disease Have Effective Treatment Option

by Andrea L. Algar

Gum disease treatments have progressed greatly from the old days of painful gum surgery and weeks, if not months, of healing. Cutting and sewing gum surgeries, often referred to as "cut and sew" or "stitch and sew" can be eliminated with the use of the state-of-the-art LANAP laser gum treatment.

Traditional "cut and sew" gum surgery

Periodontal gum disease is a serious condition that affects almost half of all adults over thirty years of age. Most people do not realize the dangers of periodontal disease and put off treatments that can be painless and very effective.

Left untreated, periodontal disease is thought to contribute to the development of many other major diseases such as heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, diabetes and others. "Risks to other areas of the body are very real with periodontal disease," explains San Antonio dentist Dr. Gregory Bowen. "Most importantly, periodontal disease contributes to 75 percent or more of tooth loss in adults. That's a staggering number. The consequences of tooth loss on one's health is immense. Tooth loss affects many body functions including the ability to eat and chew foods, speech, sleep, as well as your appearance. It shouldn't be taken lightly."

Dr. Gregory R. Bowen was one of the first dentists in San Antonio to introduce the ground-breaking technology. He acquired the Periolase laser and received certification in 2006 when he began using the laser in his own San Antonio dental offices. Since that time, he's treated over 250 patients, including his own father! "With this new technology, you don't have to have your gums cut open, then sutured back together," explains Dr. Bowen. "In my opinion it is more effective than traditional treatments. 250 happy patients back that up."

This new revolutionary laser procedure called LANAP, short for Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure, is minimally invasive that leaves healthy gum and mouth tissues unaffected while destroying the bacteria that causes periodontal gum disease. Dr. Bowen demonstrated the Periolase laser for me at his offices, demonstrating just how focused the laser is. The wavelengths for this laser are precise for treating gum tissue, and is not the same type of lasers you'll find for cosmetic skin procedures or laser hair removal.

Before-After with Periolase LANAP laser treatment

Less pain, less downtime, outstanding outcomes. LANAP truely is revolutionizing periodontal gum disease treatments. With the ability to eliminate the bacteria and infection that causes periodontal disease, the possibility of reversing gum disease and the destructive bone loss and tooth loss than can occur is a tremendous step forward in dentistry.

Dr. Bowen elaborates on the benefits to those who have gum disease. "Patients can now get extremely effective gum disease treatment, often in a single office visit which allows them to return to work or other activities the same day," he states. "There is minimal bleeding and healing times are fast. The laser literally vaporizes the infection and cleanly cauterizes the area, meaning no open wounds and no painful cutting or stitching. I'm excited to have brought this effective treatment to San Antonio. We now have technologies that rival the most medically advanced cities in the country."

To aid patients in the process of finding effective help for #gumdisease, Dr. Bowen is offering free assessment visits in his San Antonio office.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON GUM DISEASE:
Gum Disease Facts
Treatment Options for Gum Disease
Periolase & LANAP laser treatments

ABOUT DR. BOWEN:
Dr. Gregory R. Bowen has been serving men and women in San Antonio for 30 years. He is a strong advocate of newer technologies that help him deliver the most effective dental techniques available. Since 2006 he has utilized the Periolase laser for effective treatment of periodontal gum disease.

How Lasers Were Discovered To Be Extremely Effective In Treating Gum Disease

by Gregory R. Bowen, DDS

Lasers have been revolutionary in medicine, and now we find that they can be instrumental in the field of dentistry, and specifically for non-surgical treatment of periodontal gum disease. The incredible new technology started in the mid 1990’s when two Los Angeles dentists, Dr. Robert Gregg and Dr. Delwin McCarthey, were interested in lasers as a hobby.

They theorized that because the bacteria that cause periodontal disease were naturally dark pigmented organisms, they would be susceptible to a certain laser wavelength in the infrared spectrum, which is invisible to the human eye.

This was indeed the case. Fortunately, the organisms were fragile, and susceptible to the 1064 nanometer light. Dark puffy red gums would within a few weeks, heal to a normal
pink and firm texture, much like the photo shows. When they compared the results, they were both consistently getting with their semi annual cleaning patients, they knew they were on to something important.

As Dr. Gregg explained it to me when I was in California getting training on the Periolase, they knew they needed to go public and get formal research studies going to validate their findings. They also knew that the laser specifications they needed did not exist in a commercially available machine. So they decided to start Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc. and build and market these machines.

They needed an ND: YAG laser that was pulsed, and that the pulses of light could be controlled and varied. When set to a faster pulse the bacteria were destroyed more efficiently, when set to a longer pulse duration, blood would get sticky and begin to clot. Best of all, this particular wavelength was not absorbed by water, which comprises 70% of our bodies. The laser would kill the bacteria in all tissues, even bone, and remove
reddened infected tissue, but would not damage normal tissue. With traditional gum surgery, this was not the case. Healthy tissue was removed as well as diseased tissue. Best of all, there was no long, painful healing process involved. They named the new procedure L.A.N.A.P., meaning laser assisted new attachment procedure.

This was followed by several years of scientific studies some of which was conducted by an internationally known periodontist named Ray Yukna. His findings validated the Periolase as it was called.

In 2006 while reading DentalTown, a website for dentists with input from dentists all over the world, I began coming across lots of positive responses for LANAP and the Periolase. In January of 2007 I attended the first 30 hours of 48 hours of intensive hands on live patient training at the University of Colorado.

When I returned to my office I began offering this treatment to my patients and I also began to see phenomenal results with my patients who had periodontal disease. It has been almost seven years now, and several hundred people, including my own father, have benefited from this revolutionary treatment.

I've become so impressed with the oustanding results with the LANAP procedure and my Periolase laser that I want everyone who suffers from the devastation of periodontal gum to know that they have options. I discuss the symptoms of gum disease and all of the treatment options, including non-surgical laser treatments, on my new informational website Gum Disease & Effective Treatments at www.gumdiseasesanantonio.com.