These days, lasers are commonplace in forward-looking dental offices like ours. We use our Fotona LightWalker in a variety of treatments – from periodontal therapy to various oral surgeries to NightLase, a non-invasive treatment to reduce snoring and support better breathing during sleep.
But what many people don’t realize is that this same advanced technology can also support healthier, more vibrant skin, including facial skin. But why on Earth, you might be wondering, would a dentist have anything to do with THAT?
The answer starts with anatomy.
Dentists spend years studying the complex structures of the face, jaw, and oral tissue. We don’t just focus on teeth. Our training also focuses on how the muscles, skin, nerves, and underlying bone of the face work together with the mouth. That understanding makes it possible to approach facial treatments with an especially careful, balanced perspective.
But even better, from a biological perspective, is that the treatments themselves are aligned with regenerative principles. That’s because they use carefully controlled laser energy to stimulate the body’s own repair processes – not injections, not fillers, not surgery. That’s because the goal isn’t to artificially change the face. It’s to encourage the skin to restore some of its natural firmness and elasticity over time.
At the center of this approach is the Fotona laser itself, which has a dual wavelength system, letting us work with two types of laser energy: Er:YAG or Nd:YAG. Each interacts with tissue in slightly different ways. By adjusting the depth and intensity of the laser energy, we can target specific layers of the skin and underlying tissues with super precision.
When the laser gently heats deeper layers of tissue, it stimulates a controlled thermal response that tells the body to start making new collagen. Collagen is the structural protein that gives skin its strength and resilience, but its production slows as we age. Add new collagen, however, and you can reverse the effects – tightening the skin, improving its tone and texture.
And because the process works with the body’s own biology, the results tend to develop progressively and naturally instead of appearing suddenly and making it obvious that you’ve had work done.
This regenerative aspect is one reason these treatments seemed like a natural fit for our biological dental practice, where we emphasize working with the body’s own systems whenever possible, supporting healing rather than forcing dramatic change. At the same time, facial aesthetics can be a good complement to dental procedures that have a cosmetic component. Things like smile whitening and veneers tend to make a person’s smile look younger. But the smile doesn’t exist in isolation. The surrounding facial tissues frame how that smile appears. When the teeth are rejuvenated, it’s only natural to think about the skin and soft tissues around them, too.
That’s why we’ve decided to begin making these treatments available here in our Eugene office in the near future. In fact, Dr. Railand will be offering the full suite of Fotona face and neck laser treatments, each designed to stimulate collagen and support natural facial rejuvenation in slightly different ways. These include
- Fotona4D, for overall facial tightening.
- SmoothLase, for tightening the tissues around the lips and the lines that run from the sides of your nose down to the corners of your mouth.
- LipLase, for encouraging fuller lips.
Other procedures rejuvenate the neck and jawline, which often show signs of aging earlier than many people expect.
At their heart, these procedures are about regeneration. The body already knows how to repair and renew itself. Sometimes it just needs the right kind of signal to get that process moving again.
And when that happens, the results tend to look exactly the way they should: natural, gradual, and very much your own.