Gum Disease

Periodontal or gum disease happens when bacteria gets below the gum line and the attachment between the gum and tooth is lost. Three out of four Americans have some form of periodontal disease and only 3 out of 100 will ever get treated before its too late.

Gum disease is a silent, chronic, painless and communicable bacterial infection that often goes undetected or ignored until severe gum and bone destruction is unbearable and no longer able to be ignored. Left untreated, gum disease can cause tooth loss and traditional treatment can hurt.

The latest conservative gum therapy uses a combination of hand instrumentation, micro-ultrasonic instrumentation and topical agents.  We have various topical gels and pastes to make these treatments comfortable.  Dental anesthesia or nitrous oxide sedation is also available. This treatment interrupts the bacterial destruction of the tissues and bone, giving the gum pocket a chance to heal. Systematic repeated visits, generally 2-8, allow the gum pocket to be disease-free and sometimes allow tissues to reattach to the pocket to a normal or near-normal depth. This new therapy is gentle, less painful, and has a high success rate of preventing additional gum disease.