After using hard- and soft-tissue lasers for 14 years, I was confident I had pushed them as far as they could go, allowing me to do between 30% and 40% of cutting procedures without anesthesia. So I was skeptical when the folks at Convergent Dental promised that with Solea, I’d be doing more than 90% of procedures anesthesia-free. After 2 weeks of hard- and soft-tissue work, I knew that promise was a reality.
Here’s a quick rundown of the unique features that have made Solea my go-to laser.
Wavelength
Solea’s unique 9.3 
m wavelength penetrates 2% of 1 mm of tissue. It stays exactly where you put it with no unwanted thermal interaction with pulp. The cutting precision is as elegant—I daresay, more elegant—than a high-speed handpiece. I can remove decay, then apply caries detector, and then very lightly wipe it off.
This transcendent wavelength is absorbed into decay, hydroxyapatite, water, and collagen, and it cuts by vaporizing, rather than micro-exploding, water and chipping away at a tooth.
Intuitive Interface
Solea has an easy-to-use touchscreen interface. I simply look at the display and select a spot size specific to the procedure. This process is like selecting a bur for a high-speed handpiece. For example, if I choose a 1-mm spot size, it’s as if I am picking up a 330 bur; the 1.25-mm spot size corresponds to an 1158 bur; the 0.25-mm spot size is a soft-tissue scalpel, and so on.
Furthermore, Solea is operated using a foot pedal, again similar to a handpiece. If I want to cut hard tissue, I put more pressure on the foot pedal. To cut soft tissue, I ease up on the pedal. There are no controls or settings, you don’t have to know joules or Hz, and no changing tips. You never have to look at the screen during procedures—you just work. This is unique in the laser market.
Easy Tissue Switching
I can move from hard-tissue to soft-tissue cutting easily without having to make any adjustments to the unit. For a Class V at the gumline, I can, without anesthesia, clean out brown decay and shape it into a perfect prep without compromising enamel quality. Then I let up on the foot pedal a bit and immediately, and bloodlessly, sculpt the soft tissue back like clay. There is no inflammation or postop discomfort. This takes about 8 minutes, as opposed to doing it conventionally—numbing, cord, isolation, and a handpiece—which takes about 30 minutes.
The Solea has completely changed the way we schedule, because it saves us so much time. Add in low operating cost, easy sterilization, patient satisfaction, and predictable clinical outcomes, and Solea would be a great addition to any dental practice.
