The LANAP Procedure, Step by Step
If you have been told you have periodontitis, the LANAP procedure is the laser alternative to traditional gum surgery — and most patients arrive knowing the name but not what actually happens. This is the patient walkthrough: how the procedure works step by step, who it is for, and what recovery and follow-up look like.
What LANAP is — and who it is for
LANAP is a laser protocol for one specific diagnosis: established periodontitis. Understanding that boundary is what separates a treatment from a sales pitch, so we state it first.
For established periodontitis.
LANAP treats periodontitis — the stage of gum disease where pockets have deepened, the gum has pulled away from the root, and bone loss has begun. It is not a treatment for gingivitis and not a substitute for a cleaning. It is prescribed from measured pockets and imaging that show established disease, and only then.
No scalpel, no sutures.
Traditional gum surgery cuts the gum open, cleans the area, and stitches it closed. The LANAP protocol works through the pocket itself, using a thin laser fiber passed around the tooth — without incisions and without sutures. That difference in approach is why the recovery pattern is gentler for most patients.
It targets diseased tissue, keeps healthy tissue.
The laser energy in this protocol interacts differently with diseased, inflamed tissue than with healthy tissue. That lets it remove the infected lining of the pocket and kill the bacteria within it, while leaving healthy gum in place to heal against the cleaned root surface — the foundation the result is built on.
The goal: pockets you can maintain.
LANAP aims to reduce pocket depths and stabilize the gum and bone around your teeth, so the result can be maintained with home care and a professional recall pattern. It is disease control designed to support the tissues' own repair — not a one-time fix that ends your part in keeping your teeth.
The procedure, step by step
Four steps, in the order they happen.
Measurements first — and again on the day.
Treatment starts with a complete measurement of every pocket and a review of your imaging, so the extent of disease is mapped tooth by tooth. Those numbers are the baseline your healing is judged against at every follow-up. Nothing about the plan — or the result — is estimated.
The laser passes through the pocket.
With the area numbed, a thin laser fiber is passed around each treated tooth, inside the pocket. The first pass removes the diseased pocket lining and kills the bacteria driving the infection. The root surface is then cleaned of tartar deposits, and a final laser pass helps a stable clot form — the seal your healing starts from.
Bite adjustment.
Teeth with periodontitis often take uneven bite forces, and a tooth being rocked in its socket cannot heal well. Your bite is checked and adjusted where needed, so treated teeth carry an even load while the gum and bone stabilize. This step is unglamorous, and it matters more than most patients expect.
Follow-up and re-measurement.
Healing is checked at scheduled follow-ups, and pockets are re-measured over the following months and compared with your baseline, tooth by tooth. You leave with specific home-care instructions and a maintenance interval matched to your disease — the pattern that keeps the result the procedure earned.
What recovery actually looks like
Most patients are surprised by how manageable recovery is compared with the gum surgery they feared. There are no incisions and no stitches to heal. The treated area can be tender, and we ask you to keep it undisturbed — a soft diet at first, no brushing or flossing of the treated area until we say so, and specific rinses instead. Those instructions are how the result is protected, and you get them in writing, with a number to call.
Hablamos español
We warmly welcome Spanish-speaking patients. Your measurements, your procedure, and your aftercare instructions are explained in your language — call us at (212) 561-5303. If you are uninsured, ask about membership and financing when you call.
LANAP procedure questions, answered
01Does the LANAP procedure hurt?
The treated area is numbed, so the procedure itself should not hurt. Afterward, tenderness and some soreness in the treated area are normal and are usually managed with the ordinary measures we go over with you before you leave. We would rather you hear 'planned for and manageable' than 'painless' — and we give you a number to call if your recovery feels off.
02How many visits does LANAP take?
That depends on how much of your mouth is involved. The diagnostic measurement visit comes first; treatment is then commonly organized by sides or sections of the mouth rather than everything at once, with follow-up checks afterward. Your plan — the visits, their sequence, and the cost — is laid out in writing after the measurements, before treatment begins.
03How is LANAP different from a deep cleaning?
A deep cleaning — scaling and root planing — mechanically removes deposits from the root surfaces, and it is the right treatment for earlier or more moderate disease. LANAP adds the laser protocol on top of that foundation: treating the diseased pocket lining, disinfecting the pocket, and setting up the clot that healing builds on. Established disease is what the protocol was designed for.
04Will my gums grow back?
The honest goal is pocket reduction and stabilization — healthier, shallower pockets you can actually maintain, with the gum healing tighter against the root. The protocol is designed to support the body's own regeneration of the tissues that hold the tooth. What any individual mouth achieves is proven at follow-up, in re-measured numbers — we show you those rather than promising a result in advance.
05What do I have to do after the procedure?
Protect the treated area while it heals. The soft-diet period, the pause on brushing and flossing that specific area, and the rinses we prescribe are not optional extras — they are how the result is kept. After healing, the maintenance interval takes over. Patients who treat the aftercare casually tend to get casual results, and we will be direct with you about that, kindly and in writing.
06Am I a candidate for LANAP?
Candidates have established periodontitis — measured pockets and imaging showing disease that has progressed beyond what a cleaning or a deep cleaning can resolve. Gingivitis and shallow pockets do not need it, and we will not sell it for them. The measurement visit is the only honest way to know which you have: call (212) 561-5303 and we will measure first.
07Where are you located?
54 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007, in the heart of Tribeca — serving Tribeca, SoHo, Battery Park City, the Financial District, and Downtown Manhattan.
LANAP care in the heart of Tribeca
Find us at 54 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007 — in the heart of Tribeca, serving Tribeca, SoHo, Battery Park City, the Financial District, and Downtown Manhattan.
Start with the measurements.
Call (212) 561-5303 or book online. We measure your pockets, show you the numbers, and tell you plainly whether LANAP, a deep cleaning, or maintenance is the right next step for your mouth.
Your Visit from Tribeca
Getting here from Tribeca is a short walk, not a trip, and that is how most of our neighbors arrive. If you are coming by subway, the 1, 2, 3, A, C, and E trains stop at Chambers Street, about a five-minute walk up Warren to our door. The 4, 5, and 6 at Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall are ten minutes on foot through the civic center, and the J and Z also stop at Chambers Street for the east-side connection.
Citi Bike stations sit on Warren Street and Greenwich Street, and New Jersey commuters can take PATH to the World Trade Center Oculus.
When you arrive at 54 Warren Street, we keep the day simple and unhurried from the moment you check in. Our team works together under one roof, so your visit stays in one place instead of sending you across town for another appointment or another opinion. We talk through what brought you in, take any imaging we need here in the office, and explain what we are seeing in plain language before we discuss next steps together.
You will always know what we recommend, why we recommend it, and what can wait, so you leave with a clear plan rather than unanswered questions.
Life in Tribeca moves between the cast-iron lofts on Franklin Street, the towers along West Street, and afternoons with families at Washington Market Park, and we schedule with that rhythm in mind. We are open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM, Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM, and Sunday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and you can book online any time or call us at (212) 561-5303.
Street parking here is tight, with cobblestone blocks and film shoots, but attended garages on Warren Street and Greenwich Street sit within a block of our door. Follow-ups stay with our same team, so your care feels continuous.
Ongoing care is where being neighbors really pays off for our Tribeca patients. A six-month recall is just a short walk over, a quick check-in with the team who already knows your history, and a cleaning that fits between school drop-off and the rest of your day. When treatment takes more than one visit, we sequence it sensibly, review healing in person, and adjust the plan together rather than by phone tag.
Because we have cared for families here since 2007, we notice small changes early, keep your records continuous, and remind you when you are due — so staying on track never feels like starting over.
How Care Is Planned at Our Tribeca Studio
Every treatment plan at Tribeca Dental Studio begins with a diagnosis, not a recommendation made in the abstract. We examine the tooth or area in question, review imaging taken here in the office — including 3D CBCT scans when the case calls for them — and talk through what we see in plain language before any treatment is proposed. You will always know what we recommend, why we recommend it, and what could safely wait.
When several options would serve you well, we lay them side by side: what each involves, how many visits it takes, how long it is expected to last, and what it asks of the neighboring teeth and bone.
That conversation becomes a written plan. The sequence, the timing, and the reasoning are set down before treatment begins, so there are no surprises mid-course and no step is improvised. Staged treatment is grouped into planned steps when we can, and each stage is checked before the next one starts.
If a simpler option would serve you just as well, that is the option we will put in front of you — and if the honest answer is that a tooth or a treatment can be watched rather than treated today, we will say that instead.
Because every specialty sits under one roof at 54 Warren St, a plan that touches several disciplines is designed as a whole. Implant surgery, periodontics, endodontics, orthodontics, cosmetic work, airway care, and pediatric dentistry are handled by one team in one place, which means the implant plan accounts for the gum plan, the orthodontic plan accounts for the airway, and nothing is lost between offices across town.
Your records, your imaging, and your history stay with the same team from the first visit through every follow-up.
Technology We Use — and Why It Matters
Good planning depends on seeing clearly. Our studio works with 3D CBCT imaging, which shows bone volume, nerve positions, sinus anatomy, and root form in three dimensions rather than the flat shadow of a standard X-ray. Implant positions, grafting decisions, root canal anatomy, and expansion planning are all worked out on that imaging before treatment begins, so the day of the procedure holds as few unknowns as possible.
Digital planning carries the same approach into orthodontics and cosmetic work: tooth movement and smile design are mapped in advance, and you can see the intended direction before committing to it.
Laser technology is part of everyday care here, from gum therapy to the NightLase protocol we use for snoring. Lasers let us treat soft tissue with precision and, in many cases, with a quieter recovery than traditional surgery. For sleep concerns, we use at-home sleep testing rather than assumptions: your breathing is measured in your own bed, and the results — not a guess — decide whether an oral appliance, NightLase, or a referral is the right path.
Technology earns its place in the plan only when it changes a decision or improves an outcome; that is the standard each tool here is held to.
Costs, Insurance, and Written Estimates
Before treatment begins, you receive the plan in writing — including what each stage involves and what it costs — so you can decide with the full picture in front of you. There is no obligation attached to a consultation, and a second opinion is a reasonable thing to want; we would rather you choose with clear information than feel rushed into a chair.
If you have dental insurance, our team verifies your coverage and explains what it does and does not apply to before we start, and if you do not, the written plan still lets you stage treatment sensibly over time.
Dental treatment is often easier to approach in planned stages than all at once. A written plan lets you sequence what is urgent, what protects the teeth around it, and what is elective, so each visit moves the whole plan forward. If something changes along the way — a tooth responds better or worse than expected — the plan is revisited with you, in writing, before the next step. That discipline is what keeps a long course of treatment from becoming a series of surprises.
Comfort, Recovery, and Follow-Up
Most dental anxiety comes from the unknown, so we work to remove it: what will happen, how long it takes, what it will feel like, and what recovery looks like are all covered before we begin. During treatment we check in rather than push through, and after it we tell you plainly what is normal, what is not, and when to call.
Written aftercare instructions go home with you, and the precautions in them — protecting a healing site, eating soft foods for a few days, keeping the area clean — are the difference between an uneventful recovery and a complicated one.
Follow-up is part of the treatment, not an extra. We schedule reviews around your life, use return visits to check healing and the details we flagged together, and keep recall reminders running so maintenance does not drift. If something feels off between visits, we would rather see you quickly than have you wait and wonder.
Call us at (212) 561-5303 or book online at any time — the studio is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Before You Book
A final word on how to use pages like this one. Treatment pages describe what is possible; a consultation decides what is appropriate — for your anatomy, your history, your goals, and your budget, in that order of conversation. If anything here has raised a question we have not answered, bring it with you: patients who arrive with marked-up pages and specific questions get the most from their first visit, and the plan we write together is better for it.
Tribeca Dental Studio is at 54 Warren St in Tribeca, and new patients are welcome at any of the services described on this site. Book online at any time or call (212) 561-5303. The first step is an examination and an honest conversation; everything else in dentistry follows from those two things done properly.
The Next Step Is a Conversation
Wherever this page found you — a search at midnight, a partner's forwarded link, a dentist's suggestion — the next step is smaller than the worry usually makes it feel. A consultation at the studio is an examination and a conversation, not a commitment: findings first, options with their honest trade-offs, a written plan with costs, and time to decide at home.
Patients tell us the plan is what they actually came for, whether they proceed here, proceed elsewhere, or proceed nowhere for now. That is the offer, and it stands on every page of this site: 54 Warren St, bookable online at any hour, or at (212) 561-5303 — Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Sunday 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
The Consultation Is Not a Funnel
A last word that applies to every page in this series, whichever treatment brought you here: the consultation is not a funnel. Patients arrive at these pages mid-worry — about a tooth, a jaw, a night's sleep, a smile in photographs — and the studio's answer has been the same since 2007. An examination. Imaging where imaging decides. A written plan with the options and their costs, including the option of doing less, or nothing yet.
Then time to think, at home, without a follow-up call designed to hurry you. If that is the experience you were hoping dentistry could be, the door is at 54 Warren St, and it opens online at any hour or at (212) 561-5303.
How We Plan Your Care at Tribeca Dental Studio
Every treatment at Tribeca Dental Studio starts with a diagnosis, not a sales pitch. Before we recommend anything, we examine the tooth or area in question, review imaging taken here in the office, and talk through what we see in plain language. You will always know what we recommend, why we recommend it, and what could safely wait.
That recommendation becomes a written plan, so the sequence, the timing, and the reasoning are clear before any treatment begins — and if a simpler option would serve you just as well, that is the option we will put in front of you.
Our studio brings every dental specialty under one roof at 54 Warren St in Tribeca, and it has since 2007. General dentistry, cosmetic care, implant surgery, periodontics, endodontics, orthodontics, airway care, and pediatric dentistry are handled by one team in one place, which means a treatment that touches several specialties is planned as a whole rather than handed off between offices across town.
Your records, your imaging, and your history stay with the same team from the first visit through every follow-up, so nothing is lost between providers and no step is planned in isolation.
We are open Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. You can book online at any time or call us at (212) 561-5303.
The studio sits between Greenwich Street and West Broadway, steps from the Chambers Street subway hub (1, 2, 3, A, C, E), with attended garages on Warren Street and Greenwich Street within a block of our door for patients who drive in.
Care does not end when the procedure does. We schedule reviews and follow-ups around your life, group staged treatment into planned steps when we can, and use each return visit to check healing and watch the details we flagged together. Between appointments we stay in touch with recall reminders and clear next steps, and if something feels off, we would rather see you quickly than have you wait and wonder.
The goal is a plan you understand, a team you recognize, and results that are checked over time rather than assumed.