Solve Gum Problems
Introduction: Are You Infected?
Click to enlarge
Gum disease, or periodontitis, is an infection of the gums. If your gums ever bleed when brushing or flossing, it is likely that you have the infection. You may have come to accept bleeding as normal, but to do so is dangerous. Where else on your body could you gently disturb the surface, get bleeding, and call it normal? If you have bleeding, then what you see in the diagrammatic illustration is happening to you! There is no pain involved, so it is easy to procrastinate getting it treated. Failure to act will result in losing your teeth. The treatment is called periodontal therapy. Click WebMD to find out about the connection between your mouth infection and heart disease, diabetes, low birth weight, and other systemic diseases.
Periodontal Therapy
Description:
The objective is to eliminate bleeding which results from bacterial infection.
Procedure:
- Once you have been diagnosed, and a map is made of the levels of bone attachment around the teeth, you will need to plan for anywhere from 4-7 visits with the dental hygienist.
- Prior to your first visit, don’t use antibiotics or antibacterial dental rinses.
- At the first visit, our hygienist will ask you to spit in a vial, which will be sent to OralDNA Labs. The lab will return a chart showing which bacteria are attacking you. The correct antibiotics will be recommended.
- Our expert hygienist will review your home care, and offer you any tools or training you may need to do your part at home, usually including a water flosser.
- You will be made numb using our comfortable lip shaking technique.
- The hygienist will employ a micro-sonic scaler to dislodge and kill deep bacterial colonies around your teeth. She may insert “Arestin,” a local antibiotic into deep pockets.
- After several visits, and when the hygienist is satisfied that bleeding is at a controlled level, she will provide probiotics or have Dr. Featherstone write the prescriptions for antibiotics.
- After 6 weeks, you will return for polishing and a post test with OralDNA Labs.
- The infection is never eliminated, only managed, to the point of zero bleeding. It is important to return every 2 to 4 months, depending on your results, for maintenance with the micro-sonic instrument.
Time:
An hour per visit for 1/4 of the jaw.
M.L.’s Story
Click to enlarge
M. L., featured in our Invisalign section, had not seen a dentist in years. His periodontal infection was raging when he came to our office seeking help to straighten his teeth. You can see redness around the gums/teeth interface in the top picture. When touched gently with an instrument to disturb the biofilm, profuse bleeding erupted. M. agreed to periodontal therapy prior to Invisalign orthodontic treatment. This consisted of several visits of micro-sonic instrumentation combined with home care instruction, which he dutifully followed. You can see the improvement in health and appearance in the middle image. It was now safe to proceed with clear orthodontic aligners. The final result is seen in the third image, after teeth whitening, cosmetic contouring, and bonding. Of course, M. smiles a lot more, and is confident his teeth will stay healthy, because they are easier to clean than when they were crooked.
Periodontal Therapy Follow up
Once periodontal therapy is completed, you must come in for periodontal maintenance every 2-4 months for an extended period of time, perhaps for the rest of your life, depending on severity and your healing response. The bacteria will re-colonize at different rates with different people.
Cost of Periodontal Therapy
The fee is $169 – $222 per visit depending on the number of teeth and severity. There are additional costs for DNA testing, water flosser, and placement of antibacterial materials in the pockets.
Perio Protect
Problem: After Periodontal Therapy, sometimes the pockets do not heal. In that case, we may refer to a specialist for surgical treatment. We have found that an excellent option to surgery is the Perio Protect TM System.
Perio Protect System Description:
Patented seals which are part of the Perio Tray help direct and maintain doctor-prescribed solutions into periodontal pockets. Patients describe the Perio Tray as comfortable, easy to use, and convenient.
Procedure:
- Impressions are made of your upper and lower teeth and gums. From this, a laboratory fabricates your trays.
- You will return for a second visit to obtain Perio Trays, medications and get instructions on their use.
- At home or at work, you will use the trays and medications several times a day for 15 minutes.
- We’ll review with you your progress in several weeks.
- Often, a second set of trays is provided to adjust to change in the shape of the gums after healing.
- After complete healing, maintenance usage is twice a day for 10 minutes.
Time: Total treatment time can vary from 3 months to 8 months depending on severity.
Cost of Perio Protect
Depending on severity, the range is $695-$1695. Periodontal surgery can be several thousand more than this.
