Hairy mouths: a simple solution to a hairy problem

Excerpt

We present a series of six male patients aged between 41 and 75 years, who underwent successful treatment of intraoral hair using a long-pulsed alexandrite laser. Following surgical resection of oral malignancy, our patients developed hairy mouth from the use of soft tissue flaps obtained from hair-bearing skin for primary reconstruction. Prior to laser treatment, they had not received any other depilation therapy. The patients required 3–7 sessions of treatment with the long-pulsed alexandrite laser (Quantas Duetto or Cynosure Elite) performed with or without cooling. Fluence ranged between 16 and 30 J/cm² with a pulse duration between 14 and 40 ms. The spot size was 12–14 mm, and treatment intervals were 4–6 weeks. Following laser treatment, all six patients achieved excellent results with full suppression or a good reduction in hair growth (Fig. 1). Treatment was well-tolerated with no complications and there was no difference in perceived discomfort with or without dynamic cooling. One operator limitation we observed was some technical difficulty in accessing the back of the mouth.

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