Treatments

Non-Surgical Therapy
Periodontal health should be achieved in the least invasive and most cost-effective manner. This is often accomplished through non-surgical periodontal treatment, comprising scaling and root planing (cleaning of the root surfaces in deep pockets to remove bacterial plaque and tartar), followed by adjunctive therapy such as local/systemic delivery of antimicrobials, as needed on a case-by-case basis.
Many patients do not require any further active treatment after this initial therapy. However, the majority of patients will require ongoing maintenance therapy to sustain optimum dental health. Non-surgical therapy does have limitations, and surgical intervention may be indicated to restore periodontal structures damaged by periodontal diseases and to facilitate oral hygiene practices.

Surgical Therapy
If you’re diagnosed with periodontal disease, your periodontist may recommend periodontal surgery. Periodontal surgery is necessary when your periodontist determines that the tissue around your teeth is unhealthy and cannot be repaired with non-surgical treatment. This surgery may be resective or regenerative depending on the individual case.
Resective treatments allow your periodontist to fold back the gum tissue and remove the disease-causing bacteria before securing the tissue back into place. Occasionally, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. This allows the gum tissue to better reattach to healthy bone.
Procedures aimed at regenerating lost bone and tissue can reverse some of the damage caused by periodontal disease. After removing bacteria from under the gum, membranes (filters), bone grafts or tissue-stimulating proteins can be used to encourage your body’s natural ability to regenerate bone and tissue.