Dental News - Unique isotopic laser vaporizes enamel with virtually no pain

Robert Selleck, DTA

Wed. 10 December 2014

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NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: If you have a hard time believing the Solea laser guarantee about working 90-percent anesthesia-free, the Greater New York Dental Meeting exhibit hall offered a perfect opportunity to see the device up close and try it yourself. Four of the Solea units were set up in the Convergent Dental booth.

And if activity in the booth was any indication, a steady stream of dental professionals have been taking the system for a test drive.

“It’s virtually anesthesia-free and blood-free,” Convergent Dental CEO Michael Cataldo said in an interview in the booth. “We have dentists telling us they’re achieving 95- and 99-percent anesthesia-free procedures with it.”

It’s that feedback from dentists using the isotopic CO2 laser system that has given Convergent the confidence to back the product with an attention-getting guarantee: If you don’t perform at least 90 percent of your Solea procedures anesthesia-free within 90 days, you can return the system and get your money back.

Unlike erbium systems that vaporize water and chip away enamel, the Solea, operates at a wavelength that nears peak absorption of hydroxyapatite (essentially, enamel), thus vaporizing the enamel itself, Cataldo explained. “That’s why it’s so fast and precise,” he said. “It’s very, very fast on hard tissue and very effective on soft tissue also.”

As more dental professionals embrace the technology, Convergent has come to realize another benefit: Dentists report being able to perform more procedures because of the efficiencies.

“Our dentists don’t spend time injecting patients and waiting for them to get numb. Our dentists can do multi-quadrant dentistry, with patients going straight from the hygienist to the procedure,” Cataldo said. When those time savings are added to no longer needing to spend so much time controlling blood, especially with many soft-tissue procedures such as removal of a polyp, the time-savings in the course of a day add up.

“We have dentists telling us they’re doing six, eight, even 10 more procedures per day,” Cataldo said.

The Solea system also differentiates itself with its computerized control and software. The computer-driven motors manipulate mirrors to modify the laser pulse rate, which enables greater control of speed, greater precision and marked reduction in patient sensitivity. A recent software upgrade advanced the computer-control capabilities even further, with some dentists reporting being able to cut certain procedure times in half following the upgrade, Cataldo said.

“We specifically designed the platform to be upgradeable over time,” Cataldo said. And the upgrades are automatically provided to keep users up-to-pace with the latest version of the system. Recently, the company even upgraded handpieces on all of the version-1 systems in the field.

“It’s non-invasive and reliably anesthesia free,” Cataldo said, emphasizing the word reliably. “You can count on it. That means as soon as the patient is in the chair, you can go to work.”

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