Wall Street Journal Article Features BIOLASE's Virtually Painless WaterLase Technology

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BIOLASE's Alternative WaterLase Technology Increases Patient Comfort by Avoiding Painful Injections of Anesthesia When Compared to Conventional Dentistry and the Dental Drill

IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/01/13 -- BIOLASE, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOL), the world's leading dental laser manufacturer and distributor, announced today that the patient comfort and clinical benefits of the Company's revolutionary WaterLase® technology was featured in a Wall Street Journal article, To Cut Tooth Decay: A Laser vs. a Drill, written by Laura Johannes. The article was published yesterday, April 30, 2013, in the Journal's Health & Wellness section.

A number of studies on lasers have shown both children and adults can have cavities filled without the feared, painful, and numbing injection. A pioneering 2002 study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine & Surgery entitled, Clinical Assessment of Er,Cr:YSGG Laser Application for Cavity Preparation, evaluated 50 cavity preparations using our second-generation Millennium™ WaterLase all-tissue laser. In the study, 94% of the cases were prepared and treated without anesthesia. No pain was felt in 68% of the cases and slight pain or tolerable pain was felt in 26% of the cases, with 6% needing some form of anesthesia. The study concluded that the WaterLase "is an efficient, effective, and safe device for caries removal and cavity preparation." Further, the patient acceptance rate was excellent, and there were no adverse side effects.

Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and CEO, said, "The clinical benefits of our revolutionary WaterLase technology have been well documented in well over a hundred clinical studies dating back to 1997, and I am very pleased to now see this technology featured in the prestigious Wall Street Journal. The key study referenced in the article was performed in 2002 with our now obsolete, second-generation WaterLase Millennium all-tissue laser. Our current flagship product, the WaterLase iPlus™, is our fourth-generation all-tissue laser and its performance far surpasses that of our previous generations. The iPlus offers far greater power, shorter pulses, and shorter repetition rates that are adjustable from five to 100 pulses per second while the Millennium's repetition rate was fixed at 20 pulses per second. Shorter pulses and lower repetition rates have been clinically proven to greatly improve patient comfort and allow for no anesthesia."

"Back in 2007, a multi-site clinical study commissioned and funded by BIOLASE was performed in order to evaluate the improvement in patient comfort levels in cavity preparations resulting from the range of new pulse settings introduced with the third-generation WaterLase MD®. The data from this unpublished compilation demonstrated that no anesthesia is required in the vast majority of cavity preparation classes and procedures. Of the 159 cavity preparation procedures in the study, 157 did not require an injection of anesthesia, a 99% success rate, and patients experienced more comfort at the lower repetition rates. The range of settings was further improved and expanded with the introduction of the WaterLase iPlus in 2011," concluded Pignatelli.

"The 2002 study referenced in the Journal article certainly demonstrated excellent clinical results, but the Millennium would be considered slow by today's WaterLase standards," said Dr. Tim Kelly, DDS, a current WaterLase iPlus owner and doctor involved in the 2007 multi-center study. "The WaterLase iPlus is a tremendous improvement over previous generations of WaterLase with twice the power of the MD Turbo and wider range of pulse settings and lower repetition rates. The evolution in WaterLase technology and significantly advanced clinical techniques developed over the past decade have resulted in radically improved clinical results, less time in the chair for patients, less stress for the dentist dealing with relaxed patients, and far greater patient comfort."

About BIOLASE, Inc.
BIOLASE, Inc. is a biomedical company that develops, manufactures and markets dental lasers and also distributes and markets dental imaging equipment; products that are focused on technologies that advance the practice of dentistry and medicine. The Company's laser products incorporate over 340 patented and patent-pending technologies designed to provide biologically clinically superior performance with less pain and faster recovery times. Its imaging products provide cutting-edge technology at competitive prices to deliver the best results for dentists and patients. BIOLASE's principal products are dental laser systems that perform a broad range of dental procedures, including cosmetic and complex surgical applications, and a full line of dental imaging equipment. BIOLASE has sold more than 22,000 lasers.

Other products under development address ophthalmology and other medical and consumer markets.

WaterLase®, WaterLase MD®, iPlus®, WaterLase MD Turbo™, and WaterLase Millennium™ are trademarks of BIOLASE, Inc.

Please refer to the Company's website for the 2002 study, Clinical Assessment of Er,Cr:YSGG Laser Application for Cavity Preparation.

For updates and information on WaterLase and laser dentistry, find BIOLASE online at www.biolase.com, Facebook at www.facebook.com/biolaseinc, Twitter at www.twitter.com/biolaseinc, Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/biolase, Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/company/biolase, Instagram at www.instagram.com/biolaseinc and YouTube at www.youtube.com/biolasevideos. 

For further information, please contact:
Michael Porter
Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc.
212-564-4700

Source: BIOLASE, Inc.

Released May 1, 2013