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Introduction

As many as s percent of all babies born in the USA have tongue-ties significant enough to cause breastfeeding difficulties. Affected babies often fail to thrive and can be erroneously labeled as “lazy nursers” or “stubborn feeders”. Untreated tongue-ties may cause malocclusion, prognathism, mouth breathing and other issues later in life. Enhance your understanding of the issues of pediatric laser surgery to treat tongue-ties and lip-ties.

A good surgical laser for cutting soft tissue must be able to vaporize soft tissue, while at the same time efficiently coagulating surgical margins. Not all laser wavelengths are suitable to comply with both requirements. This course focuses on the practical aspects of soft tissue laser surgery and on the fundamental processes involved in the laser-tissue interaction; it helps attendees learn how deep the laser beam cuts and how deep the coagulation and hemostasis extend into the surgical margins. Our hands-on participation lab is designed to train attendees on what surgical lasers can do safely and efficiently.

Instructors

• Matthew Rowe, DDS, MSD
• Brynn Leroux, DDS
• Pam Price, LPN, IBCLC, CST
• Peter Vitruk, PhD, MInstP, CPhys

Clinical Curriculum

• Demonstrate a wide range of didactic and clinical tools for the use of lasers in pediatric dentistry
• Present basic knowledge about Dental Lasers adhering to the established standards of education
• Instruct Dentists, Lactation Consultants, Speech and Language Therapists, and other allied health care providers to understand the efficient and safe application of laser energy in everyday practice
• Provide sound scientific basis and proven efficacy of the use of lasers in Dentistry in order to ensure public safety
• Explore current methods of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of lingual and labial ties.
  Attendees will be able to:
  • Understand infant sucking physiology and how tongue ties impair infant suck;
  • Use reliable diagnostic criteria to screen babies for this condition; and
  • Understand all consequences and benefits of using lasers to remove oral restrictions
• Through participation in a hands-on workshop, the course attendees will learn to remove oral restrictions using soft- tissue lasers.

Laser Curriculum

Laser Surgery and Safety Basic Knowledge Certification Curriculum for this Course has been developed by the American Laser Study Club (ALSC). The ALSC’s curriculum overcomes the known limitations of many laser dentistry courses and includes the detailed physics of soft tissue ablation and coagulation with laser and hot tip (non-laser) devices. Laser hands-on wetlab on tissue samples will include different laser wavelengths and will include laser safety instructions and demonstrations. Laser instructions will be assisted by guest speaker Peter Vitruk, PhD, MlnstP, CPhys, a laser physicist who founded the American Laser Study Club and LightScalpel LLC.

Hands-On Participation Session (2 Hours)

• Laser Safety
• Laser Surgical Technique Simulations
• Superficial Ablation
• Superficial Coagulation
• Shallow Incisions
• Deep Incisions
• Practicing Surgical Techniques on a Pig jaw

Course Certificates

Course participants, who successfully complete examination, will be awarded a LASER SAFETY basic knowledge CERTIFICATE from the Board of Laser Safety of the Laser Institute of America (DISCOUNTED cost for the ALSC members), as well as a Laser Dentistry and Laser Surgery Basic Knowledge and Hands-On participation Wetlab CERTIFICATE from the American Laser Study Club (FREE for the course participants).

About the ALSC

American Laser Study Club was founded to promote science-based laser dentistry, surgery, and safety education. The ALSC is proud of its curriculum and its distinguished membership, including our honorary members Gordon j. Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD, and Rella P. Christensen, RDH, PhD, world-renowned leaders in dental product research and education, who welcomed the ALSC’s mission: “Peter, we congratulate you on starting a laser study club. It is greatly needed, and you are the man to do it.” Other Honorary Members of the ALSC are Charles M. Cobb, DDS, MS, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City; and C. Kumar N. Patel, PhD, MS, the Inventor of the CO₂ Laser; Recipient of National Medal of Science (1996); Member of US National Inventors Hall of Fame 2012; Professor Emeritus, UCLA. The ALSC is proud to have helped many dentists and surgeons.