Advanced Periodontal Therapy

Advanced periodontitis can occur when gingivitis is left untreated.

Also known and referred to as ‘gum disease’, gingivitis is a fairly common occurrence among patients, and is most commonly caused by the build-up of plaque on the teeth. This build-up allows bacteria to travel into the gums, infecting them there and causing inflammation, redness, and bleeding when brushing.

It is at this point that patients often come to us. Luckily, gingivitis is easy enough to treat with a thorough cleaning from our skilled dental hygiene at SnapeHill Dental Studio and Implant Centre and a better at-home oral care routine. Our hygienists will be able to help you build a regime that works to better protect your mouth from gum disease, and you’ll be able to move forward with a greater awareness of your overall oral care.

In some situations, however, gingivitis is left untreated and allowed to turn into periodontitis. At this point, the bacteria in the gums is caused by the build-up of plaque will spread to and begin to affect the ligaments and bones of the mouth. This causes them to weaken, which in turn can weaken the tooth, causing them to become loose and eventually, for patients to lose them completely or to require extraction. This level of infection can also cause a large amount of pain for the patient, and will have an effect on your ability to eat and drink – especially certain substances such as hot or cold beverages.

When this happens, there are several different forms of treatment and therapy that we can try, including:

Scale and Root Planing/SRP

This is a non-surgical treatment, and is often the first form of treatment we’ll try as it is less invasive than other periodontitis therapies. In this treatment, the plaque and tartar will be scraped from the teeth before ‘scaling’ the root surfaces to fully remove the plaque and tartar that has built up there. We’ll also remove any rough areas near the root where bacteria can easily build up and collect, which should hopefully help prevent the infection from occurring again. For some patients, this treatment might have to be performed several times in order to successfully remove the infection from the mouth.

Pocket Reduction and Gum Grafts

In more advanced cases of periodontitis, surgical treatments may have to be used in order to successfully treat the area. In a pocket reduction, the gums are folded back so that the bacteria can be removed before smoothing out the area. This helps the treated gums to reattach and remain healthy post-treatment. If the gums don’t reattach the way they should, we may have to use a gum graft. This is usually done in cases of advanced gum recession where the roots of the tooth have been exposed, but with a gum graft, we can take tissue from the palate of the mouth and graft it onto the gum as needed.

Bone Graft

If we find that bacteria has begun to infect the bone, then we may recommend a bone graft. In such cases, the bacteria present will have eaten away at the bone present, significantly weakening and affecting it. This surgical treatment starts with a thorough cleaning of the area before the periodontist grafts bone from elsewhere onto the area that is infected. In some situations, the bone being used in the graft will be taken from elsewhere in the body, while in others we might use a synthetic bone material. We’ll also add proteins when completing this treatment which should help promote the regrowth of bone and tissue, helping to advance and maintain the health of the tooth into the future.

Follow-up and aftercare

Receiving advanced periodontal therapy does mean that we will require you to come into the practice regularly for check-ups, so that we can be sure the infection is gone, and the treatment is successful. Even once we’re sure that your infection has been successfully removed, we’ll want you to come in at regular intervals for check-ups and cleanings. This is so we can prevent gingivitis from occurring again, which in turn will help stop advanced periodontitis from occurring.

We’ll also talk you through how to take care of your teeth and gums at home. We’ll be sure to recommend brushing your teeth twice a day for two minutes and daily use of dental floss, but we may also make some lifestyle recommendations that could help reduce the chances of gingivitis. This could include stopping smoking and cutting down on sugar-rich drinks and food.