Periodontal Treatment

Scaling & Root Planing

If periodontal disease is diagnosed early, nonsurgical therapy may be the only treatment necessary. This involves the removal of plaque and calculus, which controls the growth of bacteria and treating the conditions that encourage gum disease.

Periodontal Surgery

When periodontal disease is left untreated the disease progresses, the pockets that form between the teeth and gums become deeper. It may then become impossible to gain access to the area of infection.

To prevent further damage to the bone and gum tissues caused by the progression of the disease and infection, it may become necessary for Dr. Anson to preform periodontal surgery.If this is the case, he gently numbs the area of infection and makes a small incision between the gum and the tooth. This allows for Dr. Anson to have access to the infected area. The area is throughly treated and tiny sutures are placed providing the patient with comfortable and rapid healing.

Regeneration & Guided Tissue Regeneration

When a periodontal infection has caused damage to the bone surrounding the teeth, there may be the opportunity to regenerate the lost bone. During periodontal surgery, Dr. Anson may place a bone graft and use a guided tissue regeneration procedure. These materials and procedures stimulate the body to regrow ligaments and bone in areas where bone loss has occurred due to infection.

Guided Tissue Regeneration involves inserting membranes (filters) between the teeth and gums to allow the ligaments to regrow and bone to reform so that the teeth are better supported.

Bone Grafts involve placing tiny fragments of bone in areas of lost bone. These grafts stimulate new bone growth, or regeneration, and restore stability to the teeth by filling in the craters that resulted from periodontal disease.

Bone Grafting with Guided Tissue Regeneration X-Rays
Before	Day of graft placement	Complete bone regeneration

Crown Lengthening

If teeth are decayed or broken below the gum line, your dentist may ask Dr. Anson to perform a crown lengthening procedure in order to create more tooth structure above the gum line so that the tooth may restored. Since the procedure adjusts the gum and bone levels to expose more of the tooth surface, it is easier to restore these teeth with cosmetic fillings and crowns.

Soft Tissue Grafts

Although gum recession can be caused by a variety of reasons, the most common cause is aggressive tooth brushing. Gum recession results in exposed tooth roots. Covering the roots that make the teeth look too long will improve the esthetic appearance of the smile. This will also solve the problem of root sensitivity to hot and cold and protect the roots from decay.