Sleep, Snoring, Airway, and Surgery: Why Laser Wavelength, Pulse, and Power Matter (208)

As dentists, we are often the first to recognize the signs of sleep disorders in our patients. While we continue to make progress in understanding the negative impact of sleep disruption and airway challenges, we must continue to increase our knowledge and treatment options to improve the lives of our patients. Being able to offer the benefits of laser therapy allows us as clinicians to make a positive impact on our patients, whether they are in appliance therapy or not. We are seeing tremendous improvement in quality of sleep and improvement in mental clarity with a simple 5-minute procedure. Utilizing fractional lasers is one of the most efficient and effective lines of defense that a clinician has to improve quality of sleep. When treatment of snoring and airway issues is performed correctly, it can give instant relief as well as long-lasting improvement in the elasticity of collagen. This improvement can lead to more restful sleep, improved relationships with a significant other, and more productive mental focus and overall well-being. This course will review options available for addressing airway challenges using fractional laser therapy as well as simple surgical applications like tongue ties, and non-surgical bio-regenerative applications.