Gaeta Giovanni Maria

Dr. Giovanni Maria Gaeta  DDS Phd  (Italian Dental Educator)
Professor (Contract) Oral Medicine Naples Italy
Regional Center for Craniofacial Malformations Second University of Naples Italy

Title: Smile Aesthetic and Laser Treatment

Traditionally, cosmetic therapies in the oral cavity are performed with cold or thermal blade surgical instruments and with rotary instruments. Currently, the growing demand for aesthetic treatments in dentistry has meant that lasers are increasingly used for their characteristics in order to achieve aesthetic treatment goals, starting to show their true potential in dentistry. The use of laser systems in the field of dentistry has now become a common procedure and represents a valid aid to traditional aesthetic methods. In some cases, the laser has become the now irreplaceable “gold standard”. We have come a long way since 1990 when the first laser for use in dentistry was accepted by the FDA. An increase in the fields of applications, techniques of use and sources available in dentistry in the last decade and the promises that are already shown in research today herald a “next big event” for the near future. After an examination of the methods of use and the fields of application of the different laser sources for the aesthetic improvements of the soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity for ablative and regenerative purposes and of the perioral ones for “resurfacing” and the treatment of blemishes skin, the conditions are provided for creating knowledge of laser technology applied to the aesthetic reconstruction of the smile, in order to favor an improvement and simplification of therapeutic treatments and to provide the operator with the tools suitable for the correct use of laser sources in daily clinical activity. However, some applications are still in their infancy and many controlled clinical and experimental trials will still have to be carried out to obtain an improvement in therapeutic protocols and procedures. Therefore, the choice of a laser or traditional therapy treatment will have to be carefully evaluated by the operator who will be able to discern the most suitable conditions for one or the other therapeutic application in order to obtain the best result for the patient’s health and well-being.