What is peri-implantitis?
Peri-implantitis is a disease, very similar to periodontitis or periodontal disease, but in this case, it affects the tissues surrounding the implants. Yes, implants cannot have caries, but the surrounding tissues, mucosa and bone, can suffer from a form of pyorrhoea called peri-implantitis.
This is why more and more research is demonstrating the need for gum treatment in patients with teeth before dental implants are placed. During this infectious process the implant surface exposed to bacteria becomes contaminated and is thereafter slowly rejected by the alveolar bone, which slowly but continuously recedes.
KEY Laser technology - Erbium Yag
In periodontal treatment our aim is to disinfect the periodontal pockets that form in the tissues surrounding the teeth and to remove the calculus (also called tartar) that gets inside our gums.
The evolution of laser technology has allowed the company Kavo to develop the Erbium-Yag laser with feedback system (KEY laser). Two different lasers are installed in this device, a diagnostic diode laser and a therapeutic Erbium-Yag laser.
Using the KEY laser system, the least invasive and most comfortable treatment for the patient is achieved. It consists of introducing a fibre into the groove or pocket formed by the gum and the tooth, with which a detection system based on the diode laser is capable of capturing the fluorescence signals of the subgingival calculus. When this occurs, it sends a command that activates the Erbium-Yag laser, which emits a micro-pulse and destroys the localised calculus, while contributing to the disinfection of the periodontal pocket.
The outstanding decontamination efficacy of this technology is enabling its application in new fields, such as the treatment of peri-implantitis.
This type of technology provides us with a new treatment alternative, which allows, in this case during the surgical treatment of peri-implantitis, to greatly improve the disinfection of the exposed titanium walls, and opens up a field of hope for the treatment of these processes.
