Lumenis Ltd has received clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its OpusDent Erbium dental lasers for soft tissue, periodontal, and root canal applications.

"Dentists will now be able to offer significantly improved patient care with the OpusDent Erbium products. The Erbium laser has been used for several years in hard tissue applications such as caries removal and cavity preparation replacing the high speed drill, which bothers so many patients. They will now be able to treat a variety of oral lesions, biopsies, inflamed soft tissue in the periodontal pockets, provide soft tissue crown lengthening, as well as provide periodontal and endodontic procedures," said Yacha Sutton, President and CEO of Lumenis.

"This clearance will enable OpusDent to offer dentists and oral surgeons a wider range of product offerings to match the right laser to their practice's needs. Dentists who are interested primarily in crown and bridge preparations and tooth whitening can select one of our Opus 5 or 10 diode products, dentists who do a lot of surgical procedures can purchase the Novapulse and those who perform general and cosmetic dentistry, along with basic periodontal and endodontic procedures can select the Opus 20 or OpusDuo in either Erbium or Erbium and CO2 combination."

"As a general practitioner who has used OpusDent lasers in my dental practice for over ten years I am very pleased with the new clearances, especially for root canal," says Dr. Robert Convissar, the director of laser dentistry at New York Hospital Medical Center. "Laser systems provide complete debridement, cleaning and enlargement of the canal contents and may reduce bacterial population, thus significantly contribute to root canal treatment success. When the OpusDent laser tip is introduced into the root canal system of an infected tooth, you know that you will end up with a clean canal. You can't ask for anything better to perform effective, 21st century endodontic therapy."

OpusDent, the dental business unit of Lumenis, is actively involved in research with dentists around the world in universities as well as in private practice to develop the best technologies, accessories, and techniques for advancing the use of lasers in dentistry.