Many people tend to underestimate gum disease as a threat to their oral health. Aside from some swelling and bleeding, the condition might not seem to serious at first. However, in its most advanced stages, gum disease can completely destroy the various tissues anchoring your teeth in your mouth. The experts at Healthy Smiles Dental Care of Barton City can easily identify gum disease and recommend appropriate forms of treatment. Get in touch with us if you have reason to suspect you may need gum disease treatment in Barton City, MI.
Once gum disease has reached the advanced stage of periodontitis, it can’t be reversed with a regular dental cleaning. Instead, you’ll need to undergo a deep cleaning that consists of scaling and root planing. Scaling is the first step and simply involves removing plaque and tartar from around the gum line. The next step is to protect the roots of the teeth from future infections and make it easier for the gum tissue to heal. This is done via root planing, which is the process of smoothing out the roots to remove the rough surfaces that bacteria like to cling to.
This technique is a minimally invasive approach to reversing the damage done by gum disease. Specifically, it’s used to treat gum recession, which could potentially expose the less-protected roots of your teeth to various forms of external damage. During the surgery, we make a small hole in the gums and then use a special instrument to gently stretch the tissue downwards, covering the exposed roots. In order to hold the tissue in its new position, we can place a series of collagen strips into the pinhole.
Even after scaling and root planing are complete, there will still be a bacterial presence in your mouth that could cause further damage if it’s left unaddressed. Antibiotic therapy is often used alongside a deep cleaning in order to give patients a way to actively fight the infection. Depending on your needs, you might receive a systemic antibiotic that needs to be swallowed or a topical antibiotic that is applied directly to the area where treatment is needed.