Excision of Oral Leukoplakia using 970 nm Diode Laser

Abstract

Oral leukoplakia (OL) is one of the most commonly seen potentially malignant disorders with varied clinical presentations. A wide variety of medical and surgical treatment modalities have been tried for its management with varying successes. Laser ablation of the lesion is considered as one of the treatment modalities. Conventional surgery may be followed by some side effects like scar formation, contraction, and contamination of surgical field. Using high-power laser has some advantages like less pain, swelling, bleeding, ability to decontaminate, thus preventing secondary infection. This article presents a case of leukoplakia in the right buccal mucosa, which was managed using a 6 W diode laser of 970 nm .The healing occurred uneventfully over a period of 1 month postoperatively with minimal patient discomfort. The case establishes the efficacy of diode laser in the management of OL.