Alternatives to Periodontal
Treatment
What are your choices for treating periodontal disease?
If you have periodontal disease, your choices are limited.
You could
• Delay treatment
• Choose treatment
Delaying treatment
Delaying treatment is a risky alternative because periodontal
disease never goes away on its own. Periodontal disease
is an ongoing, degenerative infection of the teeth, gums,
and bone that surrounds the teeth, caused by bacteria.
The bacteria produce toxins, and these toxins, combined
with the body’s reaction to them, destroy the bone
around your teeth. Bone lost never grows back. If too
much bone is lost, teeth get loose and have to be removed.
This means you may end up wearing partial dentures or
even full dentures.
Choosing treatment for
periodontal disease
Treatment for periodontal disease involves a combination
of scaling and root planing, new homecare techniques,
more frequent dental appointments, and in severe cases,
surgery. You don't have to lose your teeth to periodontal
disease. Although periodontal disease can always recur,
daily plaque removal and regular treatment removes the
infection and keeps the disease under control.
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| Periodontal disease |
Tooth loss caused by periodontal
disease |
Root planing treatment |
Homecare – Perio Surgery
Homecare instructions following periodontal surgery
• Before your surgery, you were given an anesthetic
to ensure your comfort. This anesthetic typically leaves
your lips, teeth and tongue feeling numb after the appointment.
For this reason, you should avoid any chewing for two
hours following surgery, or until the numbness has worn
off completely.
• Apply an ice pack — 20 minutes on, 20 minutes
off — for 6 hours following surgery to decrease pain
and swelling.
• Keep your fingers and tongue away from the parts
of your gums that were affected by the surgery.
• Do not rinse your mouth the day of the surgery.
Twenty-four hours after surgery, you can rinse gently
with mouthwash or a warm salt water solution; dissolve
one teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water, and gently
swish, then carefully spit. Three times per day is sufficient.
• It’s normal to experience some discomfort
for a few days following surgery. To avoid nausea, don’t
take pain medication on an empty stocach.
• If antibiotics were prescribed, continue to take
them for the indicated length of time, even if all symptoms
and signs of infection are gone.
• Relax as much as possible and avoid all strenuous
activities for the first 24 hours following surgery.
• Once the numbness has worn off, you should eat.
Nourishment is important to the healing process. Limit
your diet to soft foods like yogurt, soft soups, ice cream,
or soft-cooked eggs for the first 48 hours.
• Drink at least 8 large glasses of water or fruit
juice each day.
• Keep your head elevated with pillows to control
bleeding. We will give you a supply of gauze sponges to
place over the bleeding area; change them as necessary,
and use them until the bleeding stops completely. You
can also bite gently but firmly on a moist tea bag for
20 minutes if bleeding continues.
• Call our office if bleeding persists or increases.
• Continue cleaning the other areas of your mouth,
flossing daily and brushing at least twice a day as you
would normally.
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| A temporary soft diet |
Avoid spicy foods |
Take all medications |
Diabetes
Healthy gums that fit tightly against the necks of the
teeth are an important part of a beautiful smile. But
sometimes the gums grow
and extend onto the front surface of the teeth, disrupting
the natural balance between the length of the teeth and
the height of the gums. To restore balance to your smile,
we can perform a procedure called a gingivectomy or gum
reduction.
What is a gingivectomy?
Gingivectomy is a relatively minor type of periodontal
surgery that involves the removal of a small amount of
gum tissue around a
tooth or several teeth. A gingivectomy might be necessary
to remove diseased tissue, allow a filling or crown to
be placed below the gum line, or to improve esthetics.
The procedure is usually fairly quick and typically involves
only a little postoperative pain.
The procedure
First, we make sure that all involved areas of the gums
are completely numb. We then carefully make a small incision
and remove the excess gum tissue. After a couple of weeks,
your gums will be completely healed.
A gum reduction procedure is a safe and predictable way
to remove excess gum tissue and improve the natural appearance
of your smile.
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| Healthy gums |
Removal of unhealthy tissue |
Regrowth of healthy tissue |
