Dry eye is a common problem and in its more severe form may be treated with punctal occlusion. Photothermal coagulation of the puncta with the argon laser has recently been advocated to occlude the lacrimal puncta. Its long-term efficacy has not been investigated. The authors examined 22 puncta that had been occluded with the argon laser an average of 16 months before this study. Of the 22 puncta, 19 (86%) were patent. The results of our retrospective studies suggest that argon laser punctal occlusion is not an efficacious method for producing long-term punctal closure. The authors also used an animal model to investigate the effect on tissue of thermal cauterization and argon laser photothermal coagulation and found that thermal cauterization resulted in more widespread coagulative necrosis.