So far, lasers seem to be living up to their promise in the latter area. For soft tissue surgery, lots of patients report less postoperative pain. N.J. But she adds that healing may be slightly slower, because the laser also seals off blood vessels, which would bring in clotting factors to help heal cut tissues. Since the mid-1960s, lasers have proven to be powerful surgical tools. A medical laser device includes a source of electricity, mirrors to direct the beam, a crystal or gas that is stimulated to emit the light, and tubing to deliver the light energy.
Instrument design is tailored to specific uses.
Many dental lasers, for example, include long narrow tubing so that the dentist can use it in the narrow confines of a person's mouth. Watery tissue absorbs this type of laser energy, which doesn't penetrate very deeply, but vaporizes surface cells. A CO2 laser leaves a residue of carbon, called char. If a dentist leaves char in place, it serves as a biological dressing, maintaining sterility. Because the beam from a CO2 laser is invisible, a second laser beam, based on the elements helium and neon, adds a red beam, so the dentist can see the laser energy.