Modern Periodontal Disease Treatments Techniques

When damage of the soft tissue surrounding the teeth occurs, the patient is most likely struggling with periodontal disease. Unfortunately gum disease is the number one reason for tooth loss in adults, and according to several medical statistics as much as 90% of those aged 35 and older are struggling with some sort of periodontal complications.

When damage of the soft tissue surrounding the teeth occurs, the patient is most likely struggling with periodontal disease.

Unfortunately gum disease is the number one reason for tooth loss in adults, and according to several medical statistics as much as 90% of those aged 35 and older are struggling with some sort of periodontal complications.

The ADA (American Dental Association) has recently conducted a research and the results show that people who have a history of periodontal disease are exposed to high risk of developing pancreatic cancer (actually they face a 64% higher risk of developing this disease than people who do not have a history of gum disease complications).

There are both surgical and non-surgical modern treatments available that help curing the periodontal gum disease.

For instance, professional dental cleaning is one such non-surgical treatment through which all the calculus/tartar and the plaque is professionally removed from both above and under the gum line.

Generally, people who have periodontal disease will have to visit their dentist for professional dental cleaning more than two times per year.

Non-surgical Periodontal Disease Treatment

An even more efficient non-surgical treatment is the root planning and scaling. Usually done under anesthetics, through this procedure all the tartar and plaque buildup is being removed.

Moreover, root planning supposes that the rough areas on the surface of the tooth root are smoothened out, and through this all the bacteria existent on the surface of the teeth are efficiently removed. After root planning and scaling, the gums will get in touch with a smooth, healthy and clean surface of the teeth which is extremely important.

Usually this latter non surgical procedure is performed when patients struggle with tartar buildup right under the gum line, which would be extremely difficult to remove with a simple dental cleaning.

Surgical Periodontal Disease Treatment

Among the surgical treatments available, it is important to mention the pocket reduction surgery, also called flap surgery. Through this procedure the area between the teeth and the gums is reduced so that bacteria cannot build up and cause further damage.

Then, there are the gum grafts available, and this surgical procedure is specifically useful for patients who struggle with recessed gum portions, or extremely thin gums.

The dental professional usually will fills in these areas with graft tissue that is taken from other healthy surfaces of the mouth. Then, this tissue is added to the affected gum area, while the surface where the graft has been taken from is surgically stitched and left to heal.

Periodontal disease destroys the bone structure in the mouth, and this is why sometimes bone graft is also a surgical solution that is required. This is when synthetic bone or bone taken from the patient is used to actually substitute the destroyed bone structure by the periodontal disease.

Now thanks to advances in technology the gum tissue and bone growth can be accelerated, so that the patient’s mouth will heal in a much shorter time. It is extremely important to catch periodontal disease in its earlier phases and start immediately with the proper treatment in order to avoid major health complications.