Final answer:
Electrosurgery is used for the removal of benign skin lesions by using electrical current to cut and modify tissue. In dentistry, laser surgery is more frequently utilized for soft tissue procedures, with less blood loss and highly precise targeting of tissue. High-frequency AC is used in electrosurgery to enhance precision and safety.
Step-by-step explanation:
Electrosurgery is a widely used medical technique, particularly in procedures such as the removal of benign skin lesions. It involves the use of electrical current to cut, coagulate, or otherwise modify tissue. Unlike other methods like freezing tissue or aspiration, which are not forms of electrosurgery, it primarily makes use of a high-frequency AC current. This is because a high-frequency current reduces the likelihood of stimulating muscles and nerves, while also allowing precise control of the cutting and coagulation effects.
In the context of dentistry, this form of surgery is not as common as laser surgery, which is frequently used for procedures involving soft tissues in the mouth such as removing ulcers, stopping bleeding, or reshaping gum tissue. The erbium YAG laser is specifically utilized for cutting into bones and teeth, although its application in these areas is less widespread. Laser surgery has the advantage of causing very little bleeding, and due to the specific wavelength that lasers emit, they can be focused very precisely and are strongly absorbed by the targeted tissue, which is beneficial for procedures like repairing a detached retina where a green argon laser may be used to coagulate tissue and create scar tissue to hold the retina in place.
Electrosurgery, notably when performed with a scalpel that conducts high-voltage electricity, directs most of the current from its sharp edge due to the nature of electric fields at the surface of conductors. This results in more efficient cutting with minimal damage to surrounding tissues.