Periodontal Maintenance
Florence, AL
Your oral health is the window to your overall health; therefore, caring for your teeth is necessary to promote your overall health.
One of the ways to maintain your dental health is through regular cleanings.
At Singing River Dentistry, we help you understand periodontal maintenance and why you should consider it for good dental and overall health.
Request an Appointment
What Is Periodontal Maintenance?
If you have ever had a gum disease diagnosis, you have also had periodontal maintenance as an after-treatment.
This treatment is similar to a regular dental cleaning but is a prescription rather than preventative care.
The treatment involves soft tissue management that continually battles the bacteria that cause periodontal disease.
As such, periodontal maintenance is for patients diagnosed with periodontal disease who have also had periodontal surgery, scaling, and root planing.
We will prescribe periodontal maintenance to maintain stability upon treating your gum infection.
Why You Should Have Regular Periodontal Maintenance
Keeping your oral health intact through periodontal maintenance prevents gum disease from worsening.
This procedure offers the following benefits to its patients.
| • |
Tartar Removal: Even with good oral hygiene, removing bacteria and deposits from the gum pockets is challenging. This results in tartar and plaque buildup around your gum line, causing periodontal issues. Our team of professionals will use their trained eyes combined with special equipment to identify and treat all issues arising from plaque accumulation for a healthier mouth.
|
| • |
Aesthetics: A smile is the first thing people will notice when they look at you. If you have discolored teeth, your confidence will be low. Fortunately, through periodontal maintenance, we will remove the stains on your teeth and restore your smile.
|
| • |
Fresh Breath: Foul breath is a characteristic of periodontal diseases. The breath is due to a mix of decaying food below your gum line and potential gum infections. We will remove the germs, calculus, and plaque through periodontal maintenance. The removal of these elements eliminates discomfort and improves your breath.
|
| • |
Early Identification of Health Issues: A visit to our office for periodontal maintenance is the first step to identifying many health concerns. We will comprehensively examine your mouth, including an oral cancer screening and periodontitis risk assessment, and detect symptoms of other health conditions like renal disease and diabetes. |
What Is the Goal of Periodontal Maintenance in Patients With Periodontal Disease?
Gum disease can be challenging to treat but manageable with proper care. As the disease progresses, you will develop pockets on your gums as the affected tissues recede from the tooth surface.
These gaps are deep spaces between your teeth and gums. As tartar and plaque build-up in these areas, you will have issues over time.
Periodontal maintenance aims at maintaining healthy gums and bones.
Gum inflammation, or gingivitis, caused by bacteria in the mouth, starts as mild with swollen and bleeding gums.
If untreated, it will advance to periodontitis, which causes bone and gum deterioration and eventual tooth loss.
Hence, a periodontal maintenance process following your regular cleaning reduces bacteria accumulation in your mouth, saving your overall health.
What to Expect During a Periodontal Maintenance
Periodontal maintenance is a deeper cleaning than your annual teeth cleaning procedures.
Our team will use special tools and techniques to check disease progress and clean your gums and teeth.
Depending on the severity of the periodontal disease, we may use anesthesia.
Periodontal maintenance occurs in the following stages:
| • |
Supragingival Cleaning: We will start by assessing your periodontal status. This assessment includes a repeat checkup with special tools to remove plaque and calculus above your gum line.
|
| • |
Subgingival Cleaning: If you have periodontal disease, this step is crucial as our team removes calculus and bacteria beneath your gum line and the gum pockets, preventing further spread and infection.
|
| • |
Root Planing: We will also conduct a root planing to clear your mouth of any bacteria that the above steps did not remove. The process entails smoothing your tooth root.
|
| • |
Medication: After scaling and root planing, we will apply an antibiotic cream to your gum pockets. The medication promotes fast and healthy healing in your pockets. The medication also helps to ease discomfort.
|
| • |
X-ray and Examination: Finally, we rely on dental x-rays to establish the extent of your gum or bone recession. Through these x-rays, we will also identify the key areas for attention in the future. |
After periodontal maintenance, we will insist on good oral hygiene, which is key in preventing periodontitis from worsening.
Depending on the state of your mouth, we may offer an alternative treatment. Finally, we will evaluate the risk factors to recommend how long you can take before your next periodontal maintenance.
How Often Should I Get a Periodontal Maintenance Treatment?
We recommend periodontal maintenance every three to four months. There is no solid treatment for periodontal disease, but managing low bacteria levels through periodontal maintenance will maintain healthy gums.
Unlike regular X-ray and examination you will need periodontal maintenance treatments as the bacteria attacking your mouth and bones can restart the destruction process within three months.
Depending on your risk factors, how often you get periodontal maintenance therapy will vary like any other treatment.
Our team will extend this interval depending on the stability of your periodontal condition between visits.
A regular assessment of your periodontal condition enables our team to tailor recommendations to your case.
If you are on periodontal maintenance, you should comply with the treatment cycle to keep your mouth healthy. Noncompliance will cause the harmful bacteria to invade your mouth again and damage your teeth supporting structures.
Schedule Your Periodontal Maintenance Appointment Today
If you have periodontal disease, do not hesitate to consider periodontal maintenance. Our team will advise and offer customized treatment to restore your health, smile, and confidence. Reach out to us at Singing River Dentistry at 256-712-3549 to book your appointment. Our team is here to help you!
Request an Appointment
|
