Average Cost for LANAP Treatment
If left untreated, periodontitis causes inflammation, bad breath, and bleeding gums, and will eventually lead to the loss of the natural teeth. Thankfully, there are effective ways to treat periodontitis, including LANAP laser treatment for gum disease. LANAP is a non-invasive laser treatment for periodontitis that removes damaged gum tissue and stimulates healthy tissue growth without a painful scalpel surgery. The precise focus of the pulsing laser also destroys bacteria without adversely affecting the adjacent tissue, helping to keep the oral cavity clean as the tissue regenerates and encouraging a brief and comfortable recovery. This is a far cry from traditional scalpel surgery, which takes a long time to heal and can be painful; the shortened healing time allows patients to resume effective oral hygiene practices that will ensure the continued health of the oral cavity, and the newly healthy tissue protects the bones and tooth roots in ways that sutured, healing tissue cannot.
When planning any gum disease treatment, you’ll first have a comprehensive consultation where you and your periodontist can discuss your treatment options, including the cost of each option, and devise a plan that suits your clinical needs, your lifestyle needs, and your budget. In a traditional gum disease surgery, a dentist uses a scalpel to cut away infected gum tissue and remove infected pockets in the gums, disinfecting the area with a topical antibiotic and then suturing the gums back into position. It can take a long time for the oral tissues to heal following a traditional surgical procedure, and healing is often painful or, at the very least, uncomfortable.
The LANAP surgical procedure uses a specialized laser, called the PerioLase MVP-7, that has 7 variable pulse durations, allowing the dentist to precisely target small, discrete areas of oral tissue that are damaged and infected, destroying this damaged tissue while disinfecting the area and promoting the growth of healthy tissue. The LANAP treatment targets only damaged tissue and does not affect or remove any healthy gum tissue, instead focusing on slowing or stopping attachment loss and decreasing pocket depth. A full-mouth LANAP treatment usually takes about 3 or 4 hours to complete, and patients can usually resume most normal activities within one day without even needing pain medication -- though it is recommended that patients treat the gum tissue gently while brushing, flossing, and eating for at least a few days following a LANAP treatment.
The average cost of LANAP treatment in the United States ranges from $2,000 to about $8,000, depending on the number of areas that need to be treated. While this may seem expensive, when factoring in healing time, pain and discomfort, and protection against future gum disease, LANAP is the more economical choice. As scientists continue to study the regenerative effects of LANAP surgery and design new procedures, its value will only increase. If you have questions about treatment for periodontitis, talk to a LANAP-protocol certified dentist to learn more about how a LANAP surgical treatment can improve and enhance your lifelong relationship with your teeth.