Surgical Laser for Mouth and Throat Surgeries

When you cut into tissue in the mouth or throat, it bleeds. A LOT.

A surgical technique that cauterizes bleeding vessels as it goes is perfect for these locations.

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Oral laser surgeries could include:

  • Pocket excision – when gum disease has caused a deep pocket to form next to the tooth on one side, but the tooth is otherwise solid enough not to need extraction, we have the option of using the surgical laser to take off the “wall” of the pocket, making it accessible to cleaning. This could mean being able to keep a tooth that we would otherwise need to extract.
  • Gum “Sculpting” – sometimes a tooth, usually an upper fang, can end up injuring its opposite lip, causing it to swell. The swollen lip is big enough to keep pressing against the tooth tip and getting irritated, growing up into a constantly irritated bleb of tissue. The laser can be used to carve back and shrink up this bleb, restoring comfort to the mouth.
  • Removing abnormal gum growths eg Epulis – sometimes gum growth can be so proliferative, it covers up the teeth and leaves them to rot under the surface. Laser surgery can remove the excess tissue and restore the mouth to proper function.
  • Removing abnormal gum growths eg Epulis – sometimes gum growth can be so proliferative, it covers up the teeth and leaves them to rot under the surface. Laser surgery can remove the excess tissue and restore the mouth to proper function.
  • Throat surgeries – some dogs have a very long soft palate, that interferes with their breathing and causes choking fits (“reverse sneezing”). Scalpel blade surgery to shorten the palate is challenging; the tissue bleeds, and suturing is being performed down a deep dark hole…the laser prevents bleeding, and since it seals as it goes the edges do not need to be sutured.