Periodontal (Gum) Disease Treatment
Moderate and Advanced Periodontitis are stages of gum disease where the supporting gum tissues have detached from the tooth roots and no longer adequately support the teeth. If teeth in a patient with moderate or advanced periodontal disease are to be saved, the periodontal bacteria must be removed, and damaged gum tissue must be restored.
Dental Scaling and Root Planing are immediate and non-surgical periodontal procedures where a dental hygienist removes tartar and plaque from the teeth below the gums. Root surfaces are cleaned and smoothed with specially designed instruments.
It is essential to remove plaque and tartar from the pockets in the gums that allow bacteria and their toxins to irritate the gums and gain a foothold.
Gum tissue is attached to the teeth below the tooth gum-line. There is a very shallow v-shaped crevice between the tooth and gums called a sulcus. Periodontal disease attacks the sulcus. It causes the supporting tissues to break down and detach from the tooth. As the gum tissues damage progresses, the sulcus develops into a pocket. The greater the depth of the dental pocket, the more severe the periodontal disease generally is. Based on dental hygiene, periodontal disease may be localized to hard-to-clean areas in the mouth or may affect much of the gums.
Diseased periodontal pockets are deeper than the normal gingival pocket depths. Therefore, scaling and root planing treatments are often referred to as deep cleaning and recommended therapy for cleaning bacteria out of periodontal pockets. Ultrasonic instruments and hand instruments, called periodontal scalers and curettes, are used in the cleaning procedure.