You may have heard about gum disease, also known as “periodontitis” or “periodontal disease”. Maybe a dental professional or hygienist recently told you that you have this infection. But do you really know the difference between periodontal disease and other types of complications that can affect your mouth, such as gingivitis? Do you know why it is so important to treat periodontal disease – and why brushing and flossing alone will not do the trick?

To promote and maintain optimally-healthy gums, sometimes regular cleaning is not sufficient to fix and clean your teeth and more involved gum therapy is required before it becomes necessary to have gum surgery. Gum disease (periodontitis) causes the destruction of jaw bone and ultimately looseness of teeth.

Our preventive services include:

Nonsurgical scaling and root planning
With Ultrasonic technology to regain supportive gum structure in diseased sites. This is facilitated through numbing quadrants (sections), followed by quadrant scaling and root planning therapy, and the removal of bacteria present on the root structure of the teeth.

Most importantly, did you know that periodontal disease is today’s #1 cause of tooth loss among American adults? Or that although a causal relationship between periodontal disease and an elevated risk for systemic events has not been established, recent data suggests a possible association between periodontal disease and other health issues including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and preterm low birth-weight babies?

Antibiotic treatment
This includes irrigation (flushing antibiotic solution), placement of localized antibiotics, or the use of systemic medications to reduce oral infection. Dr. Jarwa recommends this treatment in cases of deep pathogenic pockets to fight infection where it causes the most damage/ Minocycline microspheres is an effective antibiotic treatment that comes in powder form. This powder is placed inside infected periodontal pockets just after the dental professional finishes the scaling and root planning (SRP) procedure. Following scaling and root planning, an antibiotic or antimicrobial cream may be placed in the gum pockets. These antibiotic treatments may promote fast and healthy healing in the pockets and help ease discomfort.

Periodontal maintenance
Periodontal maintenance is a cleaning procedure performed to thoroughly clean the teeth. Maintenance is an important dental treatment for halting the progression of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease and gingivitis occur when bacteria from plaque colonize on the gingival (gum) tissue, either above or below the gum line. These bacteria colonies cause serious inflammation and irritation, which in turn produce a chronic inflammatory response in the body. As a result, the body begins to systematically destroy gum and bone tissue, making the teeth shift, become unstable, or completely fall out. The pockets between the gums and teeth become deeper and house more bacteria, which may travel via the bloodstream and infect other parts of the body.

Periodontal maintenance is recommended every three to four months. Research indicates that bacterial formation on teeth and gum occurs almost immediately after the cleaning, with bad bacteria forming after 3 months. Frequent removal of the bacteria from under the gum line can control the inflammation and can often prevent further breakdown of the bone and gum supporting your teeth. Though gum disease cannot be completely reversed, periodontal maintenance is one of the tools the dentist can use to effectively halt its destructive progress.

Crown lengthening
It is no secret that Dr. Jarwa is committed to saving teeth. This is why we fill a cavity instead of pulling the tooth. Cavities can decay to tooth to the point where restoration is virtually impossible without a procedure called crown lengthening. Crown lengthening is a routine surgical procedure that remodels the contour of the gum line. The procedure does not actually lengthen the crown, but rather lowers the gum line. When there is not enough tooth structure to affix a crown, this is the only option. Sometimes a tooth has been broken below the gum line. In this instance, crown lengthening is very successful in exposing more of the tooth so that the dentist has something to work with.

Gingivectomy and ginvioplasty (gum shaping)
Reshaping uneven and or hyperplasic fibrotic gum tissues to make it more even and harmonious with the teeth shapes. This procedure is sometimes performed by itself or in combination with cosmetic or restorative treatment to impact the ultimate outcome of the dental treatment.

Hyperplasic overgrowth of gum tissue can also be the result of taking certain medications such as — [D1] and/or the result of benign tissue overgrowth of gum or gingival tissue.

Teeth splinting (joining)
On limited bases splinting services can be an option when no other option is available to replace a tooth or a patient is unwilling to let go of a loose tooth. Consult your experienced dentist. When severe periodontal disease cause severe mobility we attach these loose teeth to more healthier adjacent teeth to reduce the unwanted and uncomfortable mobility, however it can have negative impact on the adjacent teeth. Internal and external splinting can sometimes be applied as temporary measures when limited with alternative ideal options, such as implants in the case of geriatric, medically compromised or special needs patients.