PeriodontalDisease and Your Overall Health
Periodontal disease, often referred to as gum disease, is an oral health issue that affects more than just your gums. With periodontal disease, your teeth, your jawbone, even your whole-body health are affected. When gum disease develops, treatment is needed right away. Without it, the disease only continues to progress. At Amherst Village Dental, we can provide you with the treatment you need to stop the progression of periodontal disease and help your mouth to heal.
Scaling And Root Planing
Scaling and root planing is a minimally invasive deep cleaning of your teeth. This procedure involves cleaning all surfaces of your teeth, both above and below the gum line. Scaling involves scraping the surfaces above, along, and just below the gum line, while root planing is the smoothing of the tooth root surfaces. With this treatment, we can effectively remove all buildup, including the most stubborn tartar, alleviating the irritation of your gums and giving your mouth an opportunity to heal.
Periodontal Maintenance
Periodontal maintenance is a series of regularly scheduled appointments to continue helping your mouth to heal. These visits are often performed following an initial periodontal disease treatment to help improve the health of your mouth. We check your teeth and gums, measure periodontal pockets, and may also take x-rays. Then the teeth are cleaned of any debris that has accumulated since the last visit. Depending upon your needs, these visits may be anywhere from two to six months apart.
Laser Treatment
Lasers have become an important tool in the dental field. They have proven useful in some different treatments, including periodontal disease treatment. With lasers, we can remove diseased tissue with minimal bleeding and discomfort to perform a more effective scaling and root planing treatment. They can also be used to eliminate bacteria from periodontal pockets.
Pocket Reduction Surgery
If your periodontal pockets are too deep to effectively clean with scaling and root planing, we may recommend pocket reduction surgery. During this procedure, incisions are made in the gums to separate the tissue from your teeth and expose the roots of the teeth and surrounding bone. We then thoroughly clean all surfaces of your teeth and suture the gums snugly back against your teeth. This procedure reduces the depths of your periodontal pockets, making your mouth easier to clean.
Dental Consequence Of Periodontal Disease
Periodontal disease can have severe and widespread consequences for your oral health. Once the disease spreads to your connective ligaments and your underlying bone, it can result in irreversible damage. In some cases, this damage can be so severe that you need a bone or gum graft, especially during dental implant treatment.
Soft Tissue Grafting
Periodontal disease can lead to gum recession. As the tissue pulls away from the teeth, it dies, causing the gum line to recede. With gum recession, you are at an increased risk for tooth decay and can also experience painful tooth sensitivity. A soft tissue graft, or soft tissue regeneration, involves taking tissue from the roof of your mouth and suturing it over the affected teeth. As you heal, the tissues fuse together to form a healthy gum line.
Bone Grafting
In advanced stages of gum disease, you may experience bone loss, which can affect the stability of your teeth and even lead to tooth loss. A bone graft is a surgical procedure during which bone is taken from elsewhere in your mouth and placed in the affected areas of your jaw. As you heal, your natural bone fuses to, or around, the grafting material, restoring strength and shape to your jawbone. With a bone graft, we can also make dental implants possible.
Schedule Your Appointment
Don’t let failing and missing teeth keep you from feeling confident or from doing the things you love. Call us today at 603-673-5510 to invest into your health, your life, and your future.