Periodontic treatment
The basis of successful Periodontal management is the establishment of excellent oral hygiene, through detailed plaque control regimes devised for individual patients by dental care professionals.
The first step in treatment involves non-surgical cleaning below the gum line with a procedure of scaling and debridement. This involves using specialised instruments to mechanically remove plaque and scale from below the gum line. It may require multiple visits and sometimes local anaesthesia to adequately complete.
Careful reassessment following initial therapy is necessary to establish the response to treatment.Pocket depths of 4-5mm will normally continue to be treated by further maintenance aimed at further regression of the disease. Pocket depths greater than 5-6mm, together with bleeding on measurement tend to indicate active disease and will very likely lead to further bone loss over time. Teeth in this category have to be given a guarded long term prognosis and these sites may require more complex treatment, such as pocket elimination surgery, guided tissue regeneration, bone grafting, systemic and local antibiotics.
It can not be over emphasised, however, that the basis of all successful Periodontal treatment relies on diligent plaque control on behalf of the patient together with an excellent standard of debridement from the dental care professional.
Here at Whitehall Dental Practice the prevention and management of gum disease is our number one priority.
It is the commonest cause of tooth loss in adults and without periodontal health all other types of dental treatment are unlikely to be successful.
