Periodontics
Periodontics
Specialized Care for Your Gums and Supporting Structures
Periodontics is the branch of dentistry that focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of gum disease and disease affecting supporting structures of the teeth, including the jaw bone that houses the teeth.
What Is Periodontal Disease?
Also known as gum disease,is a disease affecting the health of gum and tooth supporting structure.
It is primarily caused by the buildup of plaque and calculus, causing inflammation and damage to the gums and underlying bone. There are different stages of gum disease
- Gingivitis: Initial stage where it affects only the gum tissue. The gums become red, swollen, and may bleed easily. Gingivitis is reversible with scaling & polishing treatment and maintenance of good oral hygiene.
- Periodontitis: it happens when gingivitis is left untreated, it lead to damage beyond the gums into jaw bone that houses the teeth, ultimately causing tooth loss if left untreated.
What are the Periodontal Treatments available?
At Smile Arts Dental, we provide periodontal services such as:
- Scaling and Root Planing: cleaning procedure that removes plaque and calculus from tooth and root surfaces and smooths the root surfaces to promote healing.
- Gum Grafting: Used to treat gum recession by covering exposed tooth roots with gingiva harvested from oral cavity soft tissue or collagen material. It improves the aesthetic of gum, and restores gum health.
- Crown lengthening surgery: A surgical procedure that reduces the undesirable excessive display of gum while smiling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got Questions? We've got you.
How do I know if I am having gum disease?
Common symptoms of gum disease include:
- Gum bleeding: gum bleeding during teeth brushing is the most common sign of initial gum disease.
- Bad breath: Accumulation of plaque and calculus harbor the growth of bacteria in the mouth causing bad breath.
- Gum recession and teeth sensitivity: Teeth start to feel sensitive when exposed to cold / warm temperature due to root surfaces exposure after gum recession.
- Mobile teeth: due to the loss of tooth supporting bone.
- Pain when chewing: due to mobility of the tooth or sometimes infection of the tooth root due to advanced gum disease.
Can gum disease be treated?
Yes. The treatment options depend on the staging of the gum disease.
- Gingivitis: It is reversible. Gingivitis can be treated with scaling & polishing of teeth and improved oral hygiene practice. After thorough removal of plaque and calculus, the gum will recover in 2 weeks time. The gum bleeding will resolve. It may recur if plaque and calculus are allowed to build up around the tooth again.
- Periodontitis: When the gingivitis progresses to become periodontitis, more advanced treatment may be needed. eg. surgical or non surgical root planing, oral and local antibiotic therapy or gum surgery with gingiva and bone graft to repair damaged and lost tissue.
