Woodstock Tongue Tie Treatment (Frenectomy)

At ToothTown Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Lulu and Dr. Tom are here to help your children get the care they need for a healthy mouth, and they focus on patient comfort and safety above all else. Our goal is to keep your child feeling comfortable, and our investment in advanced laser technology is just a small part of this.

We provide soft tissue laser therapy for a wide variety of purposes, including frenectomies for tongue and lip ties. When used in soft tissue surgery, lasers minimize pain, eliminate discomfort, and speed up healing, to name just a few benefits. Learn more below, or contact us now to schedule an appointment and learn more about laser therapy.

Laser therapy, also known as “laser dentistry,” refers to the use of laser tools in dental offices. These were first developed decades ago, but did not become widespread until the 1990s and 2000s. Today, laser tools are more affordable and reliable than ever.

There are two primary types of laser tools, known as “soft tissue” and “hard tissue” lasers, though some exist that fill both roles. Soft tissue lasers are used to treat the gums, lips, tongue, and other soft oral tissues, while hard tissue lasers are used as an alternative to dental drills to work on the enamel and other structures of the teeth.

We offer soft tissue laser dentistry at ToothTown Pediatric Dentistry, as an alternative to traditional dental tools like scalpels and scissors. Our laser uses a special fiber-optic tip which is heated to a very high temperature using a powerful laser light. When it’s used to operate on soft tissue, this causes the tissue to vaporize upon contact.

Soft tissue lasers can be used for a wide variety of procedures. At ToothTown Pediatric Dentistry, we primarily use them for frenectomies. This is a procedure that’s done to eliminate tongue and lip ties (Tethered Oral Tissues) and restore oral range of motion in a child’s mouth.

However, laser dental tools can be used in any procedure involving the gums, cheeks, and other soft tissue. This includes things like gum recontouring, removing abnormal growths for biopsies, and a wide variety of other such procedures.

Dental lasers have a long list of benefits. First, they require no numbing needles. This is because they cause little-to-no pain. The intense laser light “cauterizes” (seals) nerve endings as it cuts through tissue, eliminating discomfort. There are also no uncomfortable sensations of pressure when using dental lasers.

Bleeding is also dramatically reduced. Along with sealing nerves, the high heat of the laser also seals the tiny blood vessels in the gums, almost completely eliminating oral bleeding, as well as the need for sutures. This keeps your child more comfortable and also speeds up the healing process.

The healing process is also faster because dental lasers are much more precise than traditional dental tools. In most cases, less tissue has to be removed overall, which means less trauma, a lower infection risk, and faster healing for your child.