Periodontal Treatment/Gum Disease
Periodontal treatment is needed when a patient has a gum problem or gum disease (periodontitis).
Most periodontal problems arise due to inadequate oral hygiene and not having teeth cleaned professionally on a regular basis. When this happens, plaque forms on teeth not just above the gumline, but below the gumline as well. This is how gum disease (periodontitis) begins. If plaque is not cleaned out of a patient’s gumline on a daily basis with a toothbrush and floss, the plaque accumulates under the gumline. When the soft plaque accumulates under the gum line, it starts to eat away at the gum tissue creating more space under the gumline for plaque to accumulate. This space under the gum line will get deeper over time if the problem isn’t treated. When accumulated plaque is not cleaned, it turns to hard calculus. Hard calculus cannot be removed by a toothbrush and floss and will need to be cleaned off professionally.
Long-term gum inflammation causes Periodontitis.
When enough plaque and calculus has accumulated, the gum tissue becomes irritated, inflamed and will bleed easily. If the problem persists long enough the inflammation will start eroding the jawbone holding one’s teeth in place. This is called periodontitis. A regular cleaning will not be able to clean the tooth/gum tissue adequately at this point and periodontal treatment will be needed.
Proper treatment of gum disease requires anesthesia.
In order to properly clean teeth that have periodontal problems, the patient’s gum tissue will need to be anesthetized first. A dental professional will then scale the teeth and roots with an ultrasonic cleaner and manual hand scalers. If the patient is not anesthetized, the procedure will hurt and be uncomfortable.>
We work with periodontal specialists when necessary.
Dr. Wieczorek can provide this treatment, if periodontal readings are no more than 5 mm. If there are periodontal readings greater than 5 mm, Dr. Wieczorek may opt to refer to a periodontist, a gum specialist.