Ozone Therapy
What is this service?
Ozone therapy, also known as oxidative therapy, has become more mainstream in recent years, thanks to its use in treating chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and asthma. Ozone can also be used successfully to treat a variety of dental issues, including gingivitis, periodontal disease, dental caries, tooth sensitivity, dental infections, sinusitis, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), and osteonecrotic lesions. Dr. Grabiak offers ozone therapy at our Littleton, CO dental office.
Ozone is a gas that comprises three oxygen atoms. Ozone is colorless, but it’s not often seen in its pure form because it reacts easily with other elements—that’s what makes ozone therapy so powerful and useful in dentistry. It’s even used in food preservation as an antibacterial agent! Not only does ozone kill all the bad bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoans, it also removes their breakdown products as well as other necrotic debris. When ozone is applied to teeth, gums, or impressions, it can destroy bacteria and kill viruses. Which is why it’s useful for managing a number of dental problems.
What is the procedure?
Ozone is used in dentistry by applying either ozone gas, ozonated water, or ozonated oil to the mouth, sinus, ear, or TMJ. Dental ozone therapy is useful to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. It is a circulatory stimulant, a wound-cleanser, an accelerant for wound healing, a hemostatic agent, and an immune activating agent.
In ozone dental treatment, an ozone generator machine is used to create a specific dosage of medical grade ozone gas (O3) from medical grade oxygen molecules (O2), for your specific needs. Some treatments use the ozone gas directly, while others mix the gas with water or food grade olive oil to make an ozone solution used in the treatment.
Ozone is a potent oxidant that is antimicrobial and acts as a disinfectant. During treatment, the oxygen atoms in ozone interact with the pathogens that cause cavities, periodontal disease, and other dental pathologies.
What are the benefits?
A major benefit of medical grade ozone treatments is that ozone doesn’t damage healthy tissues. Our cells have antioxidants and free radical scavengers that fight the oxidative effects of ozone. Bacteria and other pathogens don’t have enough of these molecules, so the ozone kills them.
The body, including your teeth and gums have the potential to renew and regenerate itself. In the presence of disease and inflammation, this potential for the body's regeneration has been blocked. The reactive properties of ozone stimulate the body to remove many of these impediments thus allowing the body to do what it does best – heal itself. Ozone activates the immune system in infectious diseases, improves the cellular utilization of oxygen, causes the release of growth factors that stimulate damaged joints and degenerative discs to regenerate and ozone can dramatically reduce or even eliminate many cases of chronic pain through its action on pain receptors.