Healing Periodontal Disease Without Surgery
Periodontal or gum disease is common, but that doesn’t mean patients should ignore the signs. Despite the prevalence of the disease, it can lead to painful and expensive oral health treatments in the future. Thankfully, our deep cleaning procedures, called scaling and root planing, stop the infection in its early stages.
Discover in our guide below how our non-surgical scaling and root planing procedures at Holyoke Mall Dental can restore your oral health fast.
How Does Periodontal Disease Progress?
Gum disease is caused by the buildup of plaque and tartar. Plaque is a thin, white film of bacteria that’s removed by brushing. Food, smoke, and mucous can all leave plaque on your teeth.
If it’s left untreated, plaque hardens into tartar, a tough substance that can only be removed through meticulous professional cleaning. Tartar tends to hide in the hard-to-reach areas of your mouth, especially in the space between your teeth and gums.
Plaque and tartar buildup can lead to periodontal disease without routine professional dental care. They cause pockets to form between your teeth and gums. These pockets allow bacteria to develop infections within your gums, leading to tooth loss and other problems.
The Warning Signs of Gum Disease
Periodontal disease usually begins subtly. But with time, the symptoms become more pronounced as the infection progresses.
Watch out for the signs of gum disease, which include:
- Swollen, tender gums
- Frequent gum bleeding
- Loose and shifting teeth
- Widening gaps between teeth
- Persistent toothaches
- Increased sensitivity to hot, cold, and crunchy foods
Scaling:
When a patient’s gum disease has progressed beyond the earliest stages, scaling and root planing is our go-to treatment. Scaling is the first step of the process that we’ll use to remove bacteria and any infection from underneath our patients’ gums.
Root Planing:
We’ll follow your scaling treatment with root planing, which helps our patients’ teeth heal from the infection. One of our dentists will gently smooth the surfaces of your tooth roots, helping them heal and keeping bacteria from hiding within the root structure to avoid future infections.
We also may recommend or apply an anti-microbial to control infection-causing bacteria. In more developed cases, we may place antibiotic fibers in the infected pockets after your procedure, which helps keep further infection away and allows your gums to heal.
Heal Your Gums & Find Relief
Periodontal disease begins with subtle signs like swollen gums. But as it progresses, the symptoms can grow more painful and severe. Thankfully, early treatment for this condition is just a phone call away.
The experienced dentists at Holyoke Mall Dental perform scaling and root planing nearly every day. This routine procedure provides relief from the symptoms and stops the progression of the infection fast. Our dentists use this treatment to clear any pocket-forming plaque and tartar from your gums.
Discover how our periodontal treatments can save you from expensive and painful dental treatments down the line. Contact our Holyoke office today by calling (413)-538-7400 to schedule your dental exam.