Lecturer: Dr. Robert Convissar

Dr. Robert Convissar is a pioneer in the field of laser dentistry. One of the first dentists in the world to incorporate lasers into general practice he has over 32 years of experience with CO2, Diode, Erbium, and Nd.YAG wavelengths. He has authored over fifteen peer-reviewed papers and 7 laser textbooks. An international lecturer from New York to London to Sydney to Tokyo to Dubai, and everywhere in between, he has delivered close to 400 Laser Certification and Laser Tongue Tie Certification courses worldwide. He practices laser-assisted dentistry in New York City.

Course Objectives

This course includes a certified lactation consultant, a critically important part of the tongue tie release team. In this combination lecture and hands-on course, attendees will be introduced to the concept of laser frenectomies, an increasingly popular method by which dentists and physicians can treat tongue and lip ties in their patients. 5% or more of the babies born in the United States have such tight tongue-ties and frenum pulls that they cannot successfully latch onto their mother’s nipple and breastfeed. For the baby, serious consequences include loss of weight and the label of “failure to thrive”. For the mother, this results in sore and cracked nipples, mastitis, painful engorgement and post-partum depression due to an inability to nurse her baby. This has classically been treated by a physician taking a scalpel or a pair of scissors to the newborn’s mouth and cutting the attachment. The treatment of choice, however, is for a dentist to use laser technology to painlessly, bloodlessly remove the attachment, allowing the infant to immediately nurse. Though many practitioners perform tongue-tie release, few are trained in the PEEL Technique ®. This technique ensures that the 4 movements the tongue must make to nurse successfully can be performed:

• Accumulate all of the required data via history intake forms
• Perform a clinical examination to arrive at the correct diagnosis
• Evaluate when this procedure should be done
• Perform the procedure using laser technology
• Network with lactation consultants, pediatricians, neonatologists, and the rest of the medical team
• Grow your practice of neonatal dentistry