It is important to keep your entire mouth looking and feeling healthy, not just your teeth. Many people believe that dentists only deal with teeth, but they care about keeping your lips and gums healthy, too. Cold sores can be painful, itchy, contagious, embarrassing, and irritating to your mouth. They are caused by the herpes simplex virus. While there is not a cure for the virus, the cold sores themselves can be treated. Laser technology can be used by your dentist to stop cold sores before they erupt or to treat them after they do. Laser treatment can help you get rid of cold sores usually faster than topical ointments or creams can. 

Why Laser Technology?

With the use of a precise laser, heat is controlled to only affect the cold sore and not the tissue or skin that surrounds it. Your dentist, when trained in the technology, can use a precision laser to heat the cold sore to kill the virus. Killing the virus early enough can prevent the cold sore from even erupted. Even when the laser is used after eruption, the cold sore gets a chance to heal much more quickly than when treated with traditional treatments. Laser treatment can even prevent future cold sores from repopulating in the same spot. The treatment is often fast and usually requires no anesthesia.

Treatment With No Cure

While the herpes simplex virus can be killed in a specific area, there is currently no cure for the virus. Once the virus is in your body, cold sores will reappear. Laser treatment, however, can slow down the reappearances. When you start feeling a cold sore come on, early laser treatment can prevent them from erupting at all. Talk to your dentist about how you can treat your cold sores regularly.

Do you have reappearing cold sores?

Your dentist can treat cold sores with laser treatment. To schedule a consultation, call Grinnell Street Dental at (307) 672-7567. Located in Sheridan, WY, we also proudly serve the residents of Gillette, Billings, Miles City, and all surrounding communities.