Multi-wave Locked System (MLS) laser therapy is a great solution for patients who experience excessive jaw or craniofacial pain. If you clench or grind your teeth, you’ve been told you might have sleep apnea, or you have TMJ disorder, you should consider MLS laser treatment for your craniofacial pain and overall oral health.
At Rhoades Family Dentistry, our MLS cold laser is highly effective for pain treatment, especially improvements to TMJ pain. Read on to learn more about this new service we offer and what you can expect when receiving MLS laser therapy.
What Is TMJ Pain?
Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder, or craniofacial pain, is a condition that causes pain in your head, face, neck, and jaw muscles due to jaw disturbances and malfunction. Although craniofacial pain is typically caused by trauma, such as a car accident or a sports injury, insufficient oxygen supply while you’re sleeping—also known as sleep apnea—can also lead to TMJ disorder and jaw pain.
Sleep breathing disorders can also cause bruxism, a disorder where you involuntarily clench or grind your teeth during the night. When these movements are repeated all night long over extended periods of time, you can wear down the surfaces of your teeth, the skeletal structure of your jaw, and other facial joints. This ultimately leads to TMJ pain and dysfunction, headaches, facial neuralgias, and other musculoskeletal pain.
What Is MLS Laser Therapy?
MLS cold laser therapy is a non-invasive treatment that can help manage pain. While MLS laser therapy can be used to treat pain in multiple areas of the body, including the back, feet, and hands, Rhoades Family Dentistry only uses it to treat craniofacial pain.
MLS treatment works by boosting cellular energy in the pain-afflicted area. Multiple light wavelengths are used within the same laser, so the MLS laser system is able to block multiple sources of pain while also increasing blood circulation, allowing your body’s nutrients to be delivered to the painful area more quickly.
With MLS laser therapy, dental pain from a tooth, sore neck, or TMJ joint pain can be relaxed and reset to cure any discomfort you may be experiencing. The laser produces different energy watts that penetrate the inflamed tissue, reduce inflammation, and enhance healing in the pain-afflicted area.
What Are the Benefits of MLS Laser Therapy?
MLS therapy is a great option for patients experiencing TMJ pain. It’s a non-invasive treatment process that is safe, fast, and painless. MLS laser therapy has no side effects and is FDA-approved. It offers many other benefits as well, including:
- Reducing pain by stimulating cells
- Promoting a faster healing process by increasing enzyme production
- Reducing inflammation and pain in the targeted area
- Stimulating fibroblastic and osteoblastic proliferation, increasing bone repair speed
- Relaxing muscles and muscle spasms caused by TMJ disorder or other facial pain
- Decreasing swelling in the targeted area by stimulating lymphatic drainage; lymphatic movement allows for damaged tissue to regenerate healthier cells
- Energizing cell membranes and allowing essential nutrients to be transported, promoting healing, and allowing new cell growth
Additionally, MLS laser therapy for dental discomfort can deliver over 100 times more energy than the previous generation of cold laser treatments. With more healing energy and power, this new technology allows for shorter treatment times and fewer therapy sessions needed to experience immediate pain relief.
What to Expect During MLS Treatment
During treatment, your dentist will use a hand-held device that emits light. The device is placed and moved over your skin in the targeted pain area, producing a warming sensation as it begins to treat any affected tissue. MLS therapy is completely painless, and there is zero recovery time involved afterward since there are no side effects.
MLS therapy treatments only take about 10 minutes to complete. Treatment is unique for each patient depending on their distress level and what degree of pain they are experiencing in the TMJ and surrounding areas. Most patients feel significant relief after 2 to 3 treatment sessions when inflammation starts to decrease; however, other patients need 6 to 12 sessions in total to feel completely recovered.
Is MLS Laser Therapy Right for Me?
MLS laser therapy is highly effective in treating craniofacial pain. If you’ve suffered from TMJ disorder or other painful conditions related to jaw pain, consider MLS therapy as your next treatment plan. Anybody experiencing pain is eligible to receive MLS therapy. Talk to your dentist about your treatment options.
MLS laser therapy is now available at Rhoades Family Dentistry. To schedule your appointment or talk to one of our dentists about your treatment options, contact us today at 913-782-8900.
