Determining Gum Disease Severity

By using what is known as a periodontal probe in measuring pocket depth, we can assess your gum disease severity. Gum disease is more severe the greater that pocket depth and the health pocket around your teeth is usually about 3mm deep.

The gums and bone will pull away from the root of your tooth, if that pocket around your tooth attracts bacteria, tartar, or food particles, and this known as gum recession. The progressive breakdown of the bone and tissue is the result of this deeper pocket.

The result will be more tooth loss, if you have a large amount of bone loss!

Gum Disease – How Do We Treat It?

• If you have a build-up of bacteria in your mouth causing the disease, we will have to remove to the tartar and plaque that are contributing factors.
• Our treatment of your gum disease case will be determined by it’s severity. If you have gingivitis, which is the early stage of periodontal disease, we will typically treat the infection over the period of a couple of visits, after we have done a routine cleaning.
• We will normally do a deeper cleaning known as root planing and scaling, if you have a more severe form of disease. Then we follow that with a treatment in the deeper pockets with an antibiotic known as ARRESTIN.

We will usually want you coming in for a follow up office visit after your gum disease treatment is finished. In order to help keep your gums and teeth in better condition, we will go over an at-home plan for you, after we recheck your pockets.  Although you will most likely always have gum disease after your diagnosis, it is something about which most patients are not aware.

You will need to see a dentist as soon as possible, if your gums are bleeding, swollen and tender. Immediate attention should be sought, and you should never take gum disease lightly.