Smile-Maintaining Dentistry

Gum (Periodontal) Disease Therapy

 

What Causes Gum Disease?

Gum disease is an infection in the area between the tooth and gums.  The first stage of gingivitisgum disease is gingivitis, which is an inflammation of the gum tissue.  The inflammation seen in gingivitis is a result of tartar (food particles, bacteria) irritating the gum tissue.  If left untreated, gum tissue will become infected-this is gum or periodontal disease.  Gum disease results in loss of the attachment of the tooth to the gum and shrinking of the supportive jaw bone. Although 75% of Americans have some form of gum disease, only 3 % of those individuals will have treatment before teeth are lost.
 
You can see why gum disease is the #1 cause of tooth loss in adults.
Gum disease is a silent, chronic, painless bacterial infection that creates "pockets" or spaces around the teeth. Our Registered Dental Hygienists will use a tiny instrument to measure the pockets around your teeth. The measurement is in millimeters. Any pockets that are deeper than 3 mm (about 1/8") mean that gum disease may be present. Left untreated, gum disease will cause bone loss and eventually tooth loss.
 

What is Gum Disease Therapy?

At Mark O. Finney, DDS we will work with you to stop gum disease from progressing and restore your gum tissue to a healthy state. We offer:
 
•State-of-the-Art Oral DNA testing. This testing will deterimine the specific kind of bacteria present in your mouth. This helps Dr. Finney prescribe the correct systemic or oral antibiotic to treat the infection(s) in your mouth.
• Debridement, or removal of major deposits below the gumline to determine the extent of gum disease 
 
• A deep cleaning procedure called ultrasonic scaling and root planing. Ultrasonic scaling removes plaque and tartar which contain the infection-causing bacteria.  Tartar is plaque that has hardened and can not be removed with brushing and flossing. Ultrsonic scalers use high powered water and vibration to remove tartar and debris. Planing smooths rough areas on the root surfaces and removes any bacteria to promote healing. You will be numbed for the deep cleaning procedure.
 

• Application of a localized antibiotic, ARESTIN® . It is a powder

  • Arestin logo & box Placed directly in the infected areas—or "pockets"—in your gums.
  • Applied right after scaling and root planing
ARESTIN® starts working quickly, at the source of infection, and keeps fighting infection and bacteria for 30 days.1,2 It provides significantly better results than scaling and root planing alone for up to 90 days.3
 

Periodontal Maintenance/ Keeping Your Gum Tissues Healthy

Following the gum disease therapy program above, Dr. Finney and Registered Dental Hygienists Jeanne and Petra will help you maintain the progress and healing of your gums through a maintenance program. This is detailed in Periodontal Maintenance under Dental Health on this website. The basics of our Periodontal Maintenance Program are:
 
•Close monitoring of the progress of your periodontal tissue health. We will ask you to return at more frequent intervals, usually every 3 months. We will clean any deposits and measure your gum pockets.
•Counseling on what you can do at home to maintain healthy gum tissue.