Gum Disease Treatment Options

Gum disease is a condition caused by build-up of plaques. It affects the gums causing them to become infected, swollen or sore. In the initial stages it may also cause your gums to bleed during brushing and you may experience a bad breath. At this point you will be diagnosed with gingivitis. However, if no medical attention is sought, the condition further develops and you begin to suffer from periodontitis. The infection or inflammation is now beyond the gums and has reached the bone below. If this again is not treated, there is risk of damaging the bone in your jaw, loosing your teeth or having spaces develop between the gums and teeth.

Treatment Options

Are you interested in getting gum disease treatment in Chino, CA? Ramona Dentistry has the solution for you. We provide a range of treatment choices for gum disease. The method used will depend on the severity of your condition and your response to previous treatment. Treatment options include:

Professional Cleaning

This is not considered a treatment for active gum disease, but it is a preventative procedure that cannot progression to the disease. A dental hygienist thoroughly cleans your teeth to remove any plaque and tartar that has built-up on your teeth’s surface. If you seem to be at risk of the condition, your dentist may schedule you for more frequent cleanings.

Scaling and Planing

If you have hardened plaque that cannot be removed by regular cleaning, a local anesthesia will be administered and then using a special tool, the calculus (hardened plaque and tartar), will be scraped away. The scraping procedure is what is referred to as scaling and is performed above and below the gum. If you have any roughened spots, they will be made smooth through planning to allow the gum easily reattach to the teeth.

Medications

For some cases, gum disease treatment at our Chino,CA clinic involves just administering some medication. Usually, antibiotics such as amoxycillin are combined in various ways to ease the situation. Antiseptic mouthwash is also used to help reduce bacteria that cause gum disease. The commonly used mouthwash for gum disease is Chlorhexidine gluconate (Peridex). Your dentist can also prescribe gels and pellets like PerioChip that contain chlorhexidine or doxycycline. These are placed in deep gum pockets after scaling and planning to kill bacteria and reduce the size of periodontal pockets.

Flap and Pocket Reduction Surgeries

A small surgical procedure called flap surgery is sometimes necessary to help reach any deep pockets that are hard to clean. The gums are carefully lifted back and then tartar is removed through scaling. In case you have any roughened bone surface, planing will be performed and this will ensure there are no crannies in which disease-causing bacteria can hide. To finish the procedure, the gums are placed back to a snuggle fit around the tooth. this also ensure that there is no space between the gum and tooth where the bacteria can thrive.

Bone Grafting

If some areas of your jawbone are severely affected by gum disease, then the dentist will schedule for bone grafting. We will use a piece of your own bone, a synthetic bone or even a donated bone to restore the secure attachment of the teeth to the bone. We will also have to perform a procedure called tissue engineering to help your body to grow new bone and tissue at a faster rate.

Bone Surgery

If you are experiencing moderate to severe bone loss due to gum disease, we will perform a flap surgery then proceed to reshape the bone around the affected tooth. The aim of reshaping the bone is to smoothen it and remove any crevices or dents that could attract bacteria to collect and grow.

Other gum disease treatment near your area may include soft tissue grafting and guided tissue re-generation. Tissue grafting helps strengthen thinning gums or fill in where the gums have receded. The graft tissue is often obtained from the roof of your mouth. tissue regeneration on the other hand stimulates the growth of bone and gum tissue and is also performed along with flap surgery.

To learn more about gum disease and its treatment, visit our dental clinic in 4514 Philadelphia St Suite A, Chino, CA or give us a contact us today!