Periodontal Procedures
Treatment of Periodontal Disease
Periodontal disease is very prevalent in the general population. It ranges in severity from mild to advanced. Typical symptoms are bleeding gums, bad breath, loose teeth, and recession. An examination is required to determine the level of pocketing and bone loss around the teeth. Treatment varies based on severity of disease. Initial treatment usually involves deep cleaning (root planning) to remove calculus and toxins on the root surfaces to assist with returning the gum tissue to a healthy state. In some cases, gum surgery is recommended to reduce pocketing further and possibly to regenerate lost bone.
Gum Grafting
Recession is the exposure of the root surface. Not all recession needs to be treated. If you have lost the thick protective gum tissue, grafting may be required to prevent further loss of gum and bone.
Crown Lengthening
Often when a tooth fractures it will fracture at the level of the gum leaving your dentist little tooth surface to work with to repair. A crown lengthening procedure is often required to allow the tooth to be repaired. It is a minor surgery to remove some gum and bone to expose more of tooth structure to allow repair by filling or crown.
Aesthetic Crown Lengthening
Some people are born with too much gum tissue resulting in a gummy smile. What appears to be short teeth may be too much gum tissue. This condition is easily resolved with a minor surgical procedure to remove and recontour gum tissue in the area.
Tooth Extraction and Socket Presentation
Removal of a tooth usually results in the loss of both width and height of bone associated with the tooth socket. If the site will be used for a future implant or bridge, it is often advisable to bone graft the socket at the time of extraction to preserve the bone for later use.
Implants
Implants may be used to replace a single tooth or multiple teeth. The loss of a single tooth may be replaced with a simple implant. Loss of multiple teeth are often replaced by two implants to support an implant bridge. Implants may also be used to support dentures. Every situation is unique and will involve coordination of treatment with your general dentist.
Treatment of Implant Disease
Implants are a wonderful technology; however, implants are subjected to a periodontal disease process similar to natural teeth. It is extremely important to treat peri-implant disease early to prevent rapid bone and ultimately implant loss. At Niagara Periodontics, we treat peri-implant disease both non-surgically and surgically depending on the situation. We also maintain implants proactively to prevent future problems.