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Introduction:
Enhance your understanding of the issues of pediatric laser dentistry, including tongue-ties and lip- ties! As many as 5-percent of all babies born in the US 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”.

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.

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;
• 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:
  • Describe infant sucking physiology and how tongue ties impair infant suck;
  • Appropriately use diagnostic criteria to screen babies and children for this condition;
  • Clearly expressorthodontic-myofunctional connection;
  • Discuss how the soft tissues of the orofacial complex may malocclusion, TMD, headaches, and other problems;
  • List and define all consequences and benefits of using lasers to remove oral restrictions; and
  • Recognize different types of functional orthodontic devices and how they may help different types of cases.
• In addition, attendees will learn to remove oral restrictions using soft-tissue lasers through observing live surgery demonstrations.

Laser Curriculum:
The Laser Surgery and Safety Basic Knowledge Certification Curriculum for this Course have 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 wet lab on tissue samples will include laser safety instructions, various laser technique demonstrations, and frenectomy simulations. 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 the 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 Wet Lab CERTIFICATE from the American Laser Study Club (FREE for the course participants).

Course Instructors:

• Martin Kaplan, DMD
• Tara Erson, DMD
• Melissa Mugno, OMT
• Cara Riek, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, IBCLC
• Piya Gandhi, DDS
• Peter Vitruk, PhD, MInstP, CPhys

Tuition:
Doctors: $1250; Non-Doctors: $650; ALSC members: $50 off; and LightScalpel users: $50 off. Register now.

COVID-19 and Social Distancing:
This course is limited to 18 participants to ensure proper social distancing with a 6-foot distance between participants. Masks are required for all participants.

*Information, terms, and conditions in this communication are subject to change without prior notice. The American Laser Study Club reserves the right to change the course’s location, date and time, material; and cancel the course. Registered attendees will be notified within a reasonable window of time about any major changes to the course. If a course is canceled, registrants will be notified, via email, two weeks before the course date, at which time a full refund will be issued. Requested refunds will incur a 20% processing fee. No cancelations within 2-weeks of the course date.