Treatment for gum disease can sometimes involve painful surgery and stitches. Tatyana Timoff-Kissen had the procedure because of serious bone loss and tooth drifting due to gum disease.

It's an experience she says she definitely wouldn't want to re-live.

"It felt like someone was doing the jackhammer in your mouth and it just felt very barbaric, granted there was anesthesia, the procedure was very uncomfortable," says Timoff-Kissen.

Timoff-Kissin was able to get things back on track, and eliminate her fear of sitting in the dentist's chair with a less invasive option. Instead of cutting out disease, her dentist, Dr. Martha Cortes is one of many in growing numbers actually using a laser-assisted approach for clearing infection.

"It goes down the root," explains Dr. Martha Cortes. "The laser kills the bacteria, but also causes the tartar to actually flake off because it changes the matrix that holds onto it."

She says it helps to grow bone, so that which has been lost can be regenerated.

"It is comfortable," says Timoff-Kissen of the procedure. "It is pretty much pain free. You can't even equate and it is more effective."

Taking care of gums not only eliminates inflammation and bone loss in the teeth, but Cortes says it can also prevent other serious health problems unhealthy gums can contribute to like heart disease, and even pre-term birth for some pregnant women.

"If you have inflammation and periodontal bacteria, it will keep the immune system fired up so the whole body is swollen up so none of the tissues are going to work well," she explains. "Even the blood cells won't interchange the nutrients and the waste products correctly. So you're all inflamed and swollen you are vulnerable to other things."

Her patient says the laser treatment did the trick for her. But Cortes says that the best and only way to prevent gum disease is regular brushing and flossing. Something Timoff-Kissin says she will forever be on top of.