Laser surgery verus scissors for maxillary frenum




Your child has an appointment for frenum surgery now what?

You have visited the cheerful and supportive team at Pediatric Dentistry of Redlands and Associates and Dr. Fuller has suggested laser surgery to take care of your child’s maxillary frenum or tongue-tie. The laser he uses is a carbon dioxide laser. There is little to no bleeding when a laser is used versus scissors. Scissors can be very painful for the patient. When scissors are used the site bleeds and usually requires sutures.
Using a laser reduces the side effects, including pain, swelling, sutures, overall bleeding and reduces the recovery time. This procedure also requires your child to be in the chair for a shorter amount of time, because the wound can be cauterized. A two-day baby up to a one-year old may not lie still while the dentist and their team completes a long procedure in their mouth.  This is why Dr. Cameron Fuller is very happy about technology advancements in laser surgery for frenums.
While placing sutures in the mouth may not lead to a large scarring, a laser due to its ability to be more precise when cutting the area necessary, has a smaller amount of scar tissue.   The laser sends pulses towards the area without actually touching the actual skin.  This procedure usually takes only five to ten minutes to complete. With healing noticeable within the first few days and completely healed, according to Dr. Fuller within ten days.
Laser surgery is the safest and best way to handle frenum’s according to the team at Pediatric Dentistry of Redlands and Associates.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Your comment will be approved after it has been read by one of our staff.

Popular posts from this blog

What is a dental abscess?

Image
One of the most common conditions affecting children's teeth are dental abscesses.  Children with severe cavities often have teeth that abscess.  Abscess of lower left primary tooth.  NOTE the tissue swelling on the tooth. Radiograph of abscess on middle tooth.  Note the dark outline of the short root. Dental abscesses often start out as large cavities on the teeth. Once the cavity invades the pulp of the tooth the infection spreads to the bone. At that point the tooth is no longer salvageable. A dental abscess is a swelling of the tissue around an infected tooth. The following symptoms may result from a dental abscess.  Children can often present with facial swelling, fever,  altered eating habits, poor concentration, poor sleep patterns, breathing problems, and general malaise. The treatment that is always recommended is antibiotics and extraction. 
Read more

A gap between the teeth

Image
When your baby’s teeth first begin to come in and you notice that gap between their teeth when they smile, the family may coo that it’s cute. "However, it is very important that if your child has a gap in their teeth due to a maxillary frenum, or another reason, that it be corrected," says pediatric dentist Dr. Cameron Fuller. Your child’s education, speech and self-confidence is dependent upon it being corrected at an early age.             As your child gets older they are working on saying certain sounds. Children who are younger than five should be developing the ability to say all of the sounds. After five if these sounds are not solidified it will make it much more difficult for them to learn to correctly speak. “And by age seven if the sounds are not correct they run the risk of never being able to say them correctly,” says Dr. Cameron Fuller . By age five and six your child should be able to say th...
Read more

Baby teeth: What you should know.

The importance of oral health for a child is paramount.  So many aspects of a child's development depend on a healthy oral environment. At pediatric dentistry of Redlands we specialize in children's oral health, especially prevention. Here is a quick read from CNN on " Baby's teeth: What you should Know ."  
Read more