Dr. Piya Gandhi Chooses LightScalpel for Tongue- and Lip-Tie Releases

In this video, Dr. Piya Gandhi shares her experience using the LightScalpel CO₂ laser for tongue-tie and lip-tie releases. After approximately eight years of using LightScalpel, she discusses the laser's precision, tissue interaction, patient comfort, anesthesia and sedation considerations, and the post-operative experience.

She also explains why parents should ask providers what type of laser they use and discusses differences between CO₂ and diode lasers when performing these procedures.

About Piya Trehan Gandhi, DDS

Dr. Piya Gandhi is a board-certified pediatric dentist specializing in pediatric airway health and tongue-tie and lip-tie releases. Practicing since 2009, she has completed extensive training in airway development and tethered oral tissues and regularly educates other healthcare professionals on pediatric airway disorders and oral restrictions.

Dr. Gandhi practices in Houston, Texas, and is a faculty member of the American Laser Study Club and a 2024 Kumar Patel Prize in Laser Surgery recipient.

Visit Dr. Gandhi's Website | Follow Dr. Gandhi on Instagram

Video Transcript

This is our LightScalpel carbon dioxide laser. We mainly use it just for tongue-tie releases and lip-tie releases on all ages. I absolutely love this tool. I've been using it for about eight years.

It is extremely gentle and precise. So for infant procedures, there's no need for sedation or anything like that. We are able to just swaddle the baby. Because it doesn't create a lot of heat, it's fairly comfortable as well.

So for numbing, we just use a little topical on a Q-tip for the infants, and then we do use an injectable anesthesia on the older kids. But this tool allows me to release a tongue-tie very precisely on a moving patient. And I'm a pediatric dentist, so I almost never have a still patient.

But we really like to avoid introducing things like sedation when we don't need to, and this tool really allows me to do this procedure safely with minimal risk of bleeding, infection, and while keeping patients really comfortable.

The other thing about this laser, because it doesn't create a lot of heat, is post-op healing is really uneventful. So there is a little discomfort. Over-the-counter pain meds takes care of it, but we don't really see lots of inflammation or scar tissue during the healing process.

And I bring this up because not all lasers are the same. So this is carbon dioxide. The most popular dental laser is something called a diode laser. That's not even really laser technology. It is a hot tip that is then used to kind of sear the tissue.

It is extremely uncomfortable, creates a lot of inflammation, and these are the babies post-procedure that you see that don't want to feed or have feeding strikes or are very uncomfortable. It's a totally different type of tool.

So I encourage parents, when you're vetting your provider, to ask what kind of tool they're using. And someone just saying, "A laser," is not really good enough. You want to know what kind of laser, if it's heat-based or not, how that's going to impact if they need to sedate your child, or what post-operative pain looks like.

If you can find a provider that uses a CO₂, specifically LightScalpel laser, I would highly recommend going to them because truly this is the gold standard for doing these types of procedures.