Dental Services:Gum Disease
Carus Dental is committed to the treatment of gum disease (known as periodontal disease). These treatment options may include a deep cleaning (scaling and root planing), placement of antibiotics under the gums, 3-month maintenance visits to help control the disease, or gum surgery by a specialist.
Periodontal disease is a condition that can be caused by many factors. Effectiveness of brushing/flossing, diet, genetics, different types of bacteria found in one's mouth, other diseases such as diabetes, habits such as grinding, and even the positioning of one's teeth are some of the items that may contribute to the development of periodontal disease.
Periodontal disease can lead to the formation of deep pockets around the teeth. These pockets exist for everyone, but are typically only 1-3mm deep when the gums are healthy. When a pocket around a tooth starts to get deeper than 3mm, despite your best efforts, it becomes extremely difficult to clean out the bacteria and food that collect at the base of the pocket. This material causes inflammation at the base of the pocket which leads to the pocket getting even deeper (thus allowing even more material to collect in the pocket!). This cycle continues until the pockets get so deep that the inflammation starts to cause the bone to resorb from around the tooth. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with a tooth, but this periodontal disease can lead to a tooth becoming loose, gum infections, teeth shifting, or even a tooth having to be extracted because of too little support.
Treatment of advanced periodontal disease usually begins through a procedure known as scaling and root planing. The goal of this procedure is to clean out each pocket around every tooth. Once these pockets have been cleaned out, healing can occur and hopefully the depth of the pockets decreases so that adequate home care can be maintained in these areas. Often, an antibiotic can be placed in deeper pockets so that the healing process can be more successful. Usually, all of these procedures can be performed by one of our highly trained dental hygienists. Sometimes, if an area remains of concern, you may be referred to one of our gum specialists (a periodontist) so that different types of treatment options may be offered.
See Understanding What Happens During Treatment of Gum Disease
Expert Advice
In addition to just physically cleaning out the pockets around teeth, materials are now available that can be placed directly into the pockets to further help the healing process. Carus Dental recommends these slow-releasing antibiotics in order to help keep bacteria from re-infecting these areas so that the depths of the pockets are more likely to decrease. Ask your hygienist, about the benefits of this service.
Did You Know?
Did you know your dentist may be the first health care provider to see signs of a health problem? It's true. Often, the condition of the mouth can indicate symptoms of disease in other parts of the body. Your dentist may be the first to spot signs of heart disease, cancer, diabetes — even pregnancy complications. — (Michigan Dental Association)
Did you know that the earliest toothbrushes were small branches from trees? People would chew on the end to spread out the fibers in the branch. Then, the twig could be used to brush one's teeth.
