Gum Disease Therapy

Gum Disease Therapy

What level of cleaning is right for you?

Without your gums to hold your teeth in place, your smile would be nonexistent. Healthy gums are the first step to complete oral health.

Gum disease, sometimes called periodontal disease, is one of the leading causes of tooth loss, and the bacteria that cause this dental disease have been linked to serious health problems, such as heart problems, poor circulation that can lead to diabetic concerns, strokes, premature and low birth weight babies and even cancer. When we provide gum disease treatment, our concern is for your overall health, not just your teeth. Even with all the advancements in prevention, 70% of adults still have some form of gum disease present in their mouth. For this reason, we always do a thorough evaluation so we can prescribe the right level of cleaning. To find out more about cleaning levels, scroll down to read the article below.

One of the first steps in cleaning and healing your gums is to remove the bacterial buildup. If we detect a gum infection, we will apply an antibiotic solution directly into the pocket after it’s been cleaned to promote healing. We might feel that it is necessary to prescribe a course of oral antibiotics to further combat the infection. Once the source of periodontal infection has been removed, your gums will begin to heal, and tighten around your teeth.

Let us help you keep your gums, teeth and body healthy!

It’s Not Just a Tooth Cleaning

What level of care do you REALLY desire? Often we ask what level of cleaning our patients have received at their previous offices. More often than not we hear “I didn’t know there were levels.” Well, if you don’t have choices, how could you possibly decide?

Actually there are 3 different levels. Consider this: Even in 2010, approximately 75% of the adult population still had some form of gum disease. Given all the advances in our service and technology, this isn’t a particularly proud number for our profession since it hasn’t significantly changed in the last several decades. If you’re one of the 25% – congratulations! A preventive (or regular) level of cleaning works well for you, as you have no evidence of disease in your mouth. For the other 75%, there are 2 other levels of therapeutic cleaning you need to know about.

If you have disease present, which means bleeding, tenderness or increased depth of the cuff of tissue around your teeth, then a therapeutic cleaning is what is right for you. Depending on your individualized problem, you may benefit from either Supportive Periodontal Therapy (or SPT) or Scaling and Root Planing.

Supportive Periodontal Therapy is a more thorough cleaning regimen designed to remove excess deposits that are inflaming the gum tissue.

Scaling and Root Planing is an even more thorough cleaning, and it removes deposits and toxic substances that have attached to the roots of teeth. Typically, there is a loss of the supportive bone because of these elements.

Often, these 2 therapeutic regimens are combined, depending on the amount and location of disease present.

In summary, always remember that you have choices and unless you’re one of the fortunate 25%, these other levels should be part of your conversation with your dentist and hygienist. In fact, doing a basic cleaning with disease present can actually be harmful to you. Call us if you would like to learn more about our periodontal disease treatment, and remember, it’s not “just a cleaning.”