Periodontal Technology

The Millennium Laser is a great tool for shaping the gums and removing bacteria from the periodontal pocket, the space between the gums and tooth. Dental cleanings performed with this form of laser therapy significantly improve the success of healing the gums.

Inflammation, bleeding, pocket depths, and the amount of bacteria are all greatly reduced as opposed to just scaling and polishing the teeth alone. Best of all, laser therapy has been shown to improve circulation and increase the components that speed healing, referred to as Biostimulation. With any oral procedure or surgery, Biostimulation reduces pain and swelling and can help your mouth recover more quickly.

Implant and Family Dentistry uses a laser soft system to treat gum disease and other soft tissue problems. With the use of our soft tissue laser system, we can painlessly treat soft tissue (gum-related) issues such as periodontitis as well as perform more advanced procedures such as gum grafts. Give our Memphis dental office a call at (901) 377-3988 and learn how the use of a soft tissue laser can benefit you during your next visit.

Platelet rich plasma (PRP), a by-product of blood (plasma), is rich in platelets. PRP permits the body to take advantage of the normal healing pathways at a greatly accelerated rate. During the healing process, the body rushes many cells and cell-types to the wound in order to initiate the healing process. One of those cell types is platelets. Platelets perform many functions, including formation of a blood clot and release of growth factors into the wound. These growth factors function is to assist the body in repairing itself by stimulating stem cells to regenerate new tissue. The more growth factors released into the wound, the faster the healing. PRP promotes healing in bone grafting for dental implants, onlay and inlay grafts, sinus lift procedures, ridge augmentation procedures, and closure of cleft, lip, palate defects, repair of bone defects creating by removal of teeth or small cysts, and the repair of fistulas between the sinus cavity and mouth. This is of great significance to the surgeon who places dental implants. By adding PRP your implant surgeon can now grow bone more predictably and faster than ever before.

1. PRP is a by-product of the patient's own blood; therefore, disease transmission is not an issue.
2. PRP can be generated in the convenience of your doctor's office as a outpatient surgical procedure.
3. PRP promotes faster tissue regeneration.
4. Since PRP harvesting is done with only 55cc of blood in the doctor's office, the patient need not incur the expense of the harvesting procedure in hospital or at the blood bank.

Q: Is PRP safe?
A: Yes. During the outpatient surgical procedure a small amount of your own blood is drawn out via the IV. This blood is then placed in the PRP centrifuge machine and spun down. In less than 15 minutes, the PRP is formed and ready to use.

Q: Is PRP be used in all bone grafting cases?
A: Not necessarily, however, as with most cases the application of PRP to a graft will increase the final amount of bone present in addition to making the wound heal faster and more efficiently.

Q: How much does it cost?
A: The cost of a PRP application is approximately $600. Unfortunately most insurance plans do not cover PRP and the expensive is paid by the patient.