NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT

In my office, the first step to controlling periodontal disease is done with emphasis on prevention and NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT. This procedure is called ROOT PLANING AND DOES NOT INVOLVE SURGERY. Root planing is a treatment procedure usually done with local anesthesia/nitrous oxide (laughing gas is available) to assure your comfort. This allows us to instrument the root surfaces of each tooth without pain or discomfort to remove plaque, calculus, cementum or surface dentin that is rough, impregnated with calculus, or contaminated with toxins from bacteria (micro-organisms). Approximately, 4-6 weeks after the above treatment is completed, your gum tissue will be evaluated again to determine if your gum disease is inactive and thus stable. As a last resort, periodontal surgery will be recommended in areas of the mouth that do not respond to non-surgical treatment, in cases where soft tissue plastic surgery is needed to improve cosmetics, or where an attempt is to be made to regenerate the lost bone support around the teeth.

"WHAT CAN I EXPECT AFTER MY THERAPY APPOINTMENTS"

You will be numb for approximately 1 1/2 hours after the appointment. We recommend waiting for all anesthesia to wear off before eating in order to avoid accidently chewing on your tongue/cheeks areas. When the anesthetics wears off, you may feel slightly sore and sensitive. Typically, our patients do fine with mild over-the-counter pain tablets such as Aspirin, Advil, or Tylenol. We recommend using warm salt water rinses two times per day for a few days. This promotes healing and soothing of the soft tissues in the mouth. Patients are able to return to work the same day.

We expect to obtain good results with minimal discomfort. Be assured we will do everything possible to make you comfortable.