Periodontal Therapy

Restore health to your gums and protect your smile

Periodontal therapy is the treatment and prevention of gum disease. The health and condition of your gums is essential to your overall oral wellbeing. Your gums provide crucial support and protection to your teeth, acting as the foundation to your smile. Gum disease can form if tartar and plaque is allowed to build up in the mouth, causing bacteria to attack gum tissue. This is easy to treat in the early stages, but can develop into periodontitis, a more serious condition, if left untreated.

What is Gum Disease?

Plaque deposits can accumulate in areas hard to reach when brushing, particularly where your teeth meet the gums, causing inflammation. This results in an early stage of gum disease, called Gingivitis. The symptoms of Gingivitis include bleeding while brushing, redness, and swollen gums.

If left untreated, the gum becomes detached from the tooth enamel, exposing the root and forming a pocket between gum and tooth which fills with plaque. Over time, the pocket becomes deeper and the inflammation reaches the bone, which is slowly destroyed. The affected tooth becomes loose and may even fall out. This is known as Periodontitis.

Specialist Periodontal Treatments

A Periodontist (a specialist in treating, managing and preventing gum disease) is best placed to perform treatment on more advanced gum problems. Our Periodontist is highly trained and able to use microsurgical procedures and tools, including dental lasers, to scale plaque from deeper below the gum line, reducing the size of the inflamed pockets and therefore reducing the gum disease. This allows the patient to keep their natural teeth for longer.

Our Periodontist will be able to give you detailed advice on the treatment options available to you and the factors that can aggravate gum problems. As with milder gum disease, your oral health routine at home plays a large part in ensuring treatment success.

Treatments for Gum Disease

Most cases of mild gum disease can be controlled and treated by our hygienist, who can also help you maintain healthy gums to stop the condition from returning.

Great brushing and interdental cleaning at home will also help keep your gums clear of disease.

Stages of Periodontal Treatment

Gingivitis

Accumulated plaque deposits on the teeth cause inflammation, resulting in gingivitis, an early stage of gum disease. Signs of gingivitis include red, tender and swollen gums that bleed easily when brushed. Gingivitis can be reversed with careful management and an excellent oral hygiene routine.

Early Periodontal Disease

In the early stages, the gums recede from the teeth and small pockets form between the gum and tooth, which fill with harmful plaque. Signs of this early stage include receding gums, bleeding gums when brushed and possibly some bone loss

Moderate Periodontal Disease

If gum disease is left to progress, the pocket between the gum and tooth becomes deeper, causing more bleeding and pain. Teeth begin to lose support from the bone and become loose.

Advanced Periodontal Disease

In the advanced stages, the connective tissue holding the teeth in place begins to deteriorate and the affected teeth may fall out. Signs of this stage include severe pain when chewing, bad breath, changes in the position of teeth, loose teeth and tooth loss.