Periodontics

Treatment of gums and gum desease.

In July of 1998, the American Academy of Periodontology launched an effort to educate the public about new findings which supported what dental professionals had long suspected: Infections in the mouth can play havoc elsewhere in the body.

Since July of 1998, evidence has continued to mount to support these links. While more research needs to be done to say definitively that people with periodontal disease are at higher risk for developing heart disease, stroke, uncontrolled diabetes, preterm births and respiratory disease, periodontists do know that periodontal disease is a bacterial infection, and all infections are cause for concern.

Periodontal bacteria can enter the blood stream and travel to major organs and begin new infections. Research is suggesting that this may:

• Contribute to the development of heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death.
• Increase the risk of stroke.
• Increase a woman's risk of having a preterm, low birth weight baby.
• Pose a serious threat to people whose health is compromised by diabetes , respiratory diseases , or osteoporosis

Questions to ask yourself

1. Do you ever have pain in your mouth?
2. Do your gums ever bleed when you brush your teeth or when you eat hard food?
3. Have you noticed any spaces developing between your teeth?
4. Do your gums ever feel swollen or tender?
5. Have you noticed that your gums are receding (pulling back from your teeth) or your teeth appear longer than before?
6. Do you have persistent bad breath?
7. Have you noticed pus between your teeth and gums?
8. Have you noticed any change in the way your teeth fit together when you bite?
9. Do you ever develop sores in your mouth?

If you have any of these symptoms of periodontal disease, take action to protect your gums and your health and schedule an appointment with us today.

Non-surgical Treatments

We believe that periodontal health should be achieved in the least invasive and most cost-effective manner.

This is often accomplished through non-surgical periodontal treatment, including scaling and root planing (a careful cleaning of the root surfaces to remove plaque and calculus [tartar] from deep periodontal pockets and to smooth the tooth root to remove bacterial toxins), followed by adjunctive therapy such as local delivery antimicrobials and host modulation, as needed on a case-by-case basis.

Surgical Treatments

If you're diagnosed with periodontal disease, we may recommend periodontal surgery. Periodontal surgery is necessary when we determine that the tissue around your teeth is unhealthy and cannot be repaired with non-surgical treatment.

We offer a wide-range of surgical treatments and will carefully explain the options to you so that you are able to make the most informed decisions at every stage in your periodental health care.