Treating periodontal disease
Treating periodontal disease
What is parodontium?
Parodontium is the assembly of the tissues (gum and bone) surrounding and supporting the teeth. Besides cavity, periodontal disease is one of the main causes of teeth loss.
How does periodontal disease evolve?
In the beginning, tartar accumulates along the gums. This tartar might expand deeper, creating pockets between the gum and the tooth. Owing to the continuous inflammation and the bacteria in the bottom of these pockets,bone loss will occur.
This is the reason why it is indispensable to comply with adequate oral hygiene and go to health checks and oral hygiene treatments every six months. In more serious cases, bad oral hygiene might lead to tooth loss, especially in susceptible patients, for example: diabetic persons, smokers or those who possess certain genetic factors.
Possible causes of periodontal disease:
• Stressful lifestyle
• Hormonal diseases
• Faulty fillings and prostheses
• Allergic reaction to the prosthesis
• Hormone changes during pregnancy or puberty
• Vitamin (C, B3) and protein deficient diets
• Antihypertensive medicines and remedies used for heart problems
• Drugs used to treat epilepsy
Symptoms of periodontal disease:
• Are your gums red and swollen?
• Are your gums bleeding?
• Do you always have a bad taste in your mouth?
• Are your gums sensitive?
• Do you have bad breath?
• Are your tooth necks sensitive?
• Do your teeth feel loose?
• Do you have receding gums? Are your gums separated from the tooth neck?
Therapy: open and closed curettage
The therapy is defined by the depth and size of the inflamed pockets. If these don’t exceed 5 millimeters, we do root planing (closed curettage) under local anesthesia with the help of manual hand instruments besides ultrasonic tartar removal. Tartar underneath the gum line can be removed by using specially developed instruments for closed curettage.
In case the pocket depth exceeds 5 millimeters, a combined treatment is needed with surgical uncovery to clean the tooth. This treatment is called open curettage. Under local anaesthesia, the dentist gently cuts and peels off the gum in the affected areas so that the deeper periodontal pockets become more easily accessible. Total and thorough cleaning is only possible this way. We often complement this surgical cleaning with regenerative materials to achieve complete healing. After having applied these materials, we reunite and fix the gum with stitches. Periodontal pockets along certain teeth might be treated by regenerative surgeries including the usage of protein extracts and bone substitute materials.
Cooperation
It’s important to know that periodontal disease is an irreversible process. Gums follow the horizontal bone loss and it’s impossible to replace a bone that is destructed in this direction. However, the infection-free status is sustainable and we can preserve the integrity of teeth with appropriate therapy and the close cooperation of the patient. By close cooperation, we mean that the patient must clean his / her teeth according to the instructions of the dentist, while paying particular attention to the cleaning of interdental spaces. Oral hygiene education is delivered by our experienced dentists and dental hygienists at our clinic. They teach our patients careful and thorough teeth cleaning on every surface.
No matter if it’s an open or a closed curettage, we re-evaluate the condition of the parodontium 2-3 months after the treatment. We examine the healing process and decide whether any other therapeutic intervention is necessary. It needs to be emphasized that if the patient doesn’t quit smoking and doesn’t comply with oral hygiene standards, the periodontal surgeries won’t be successful.
We suggest periodontal patients to have oral hygiene treatments every three months so that we can track the condition of the parodontium.
Most common periodontal diseases:
Gingivitis
Gingivitis is the bacteria-induced illness of your gum’s external parts. Gums become inflamed, red and deformed which may result in increasing tartar formation. Plaque that’s deposited on your gums and between your teeth feeds the bacterial growth which leads to inflammation in the course of time.
Untreated gingivitis may result in bone decay which might have an outcome of tooth loss.
Parodontitis
Parodontitis counts as the most serious periodontal disease in adulthood. The bone structure of the alveolar ridge is damaged to an extent that the tooth becomes loose then falls out in the absence of specialist medical treatment. In most cases, the disease takes a chro nic course in adult age.
Gingivitis ulcerosa
The major causes are inadequate oral hygiene and the negligence of daily toothbrushing / cleaning. The disease is characterized by necrosis and exulceration which is accompanied by intense pain and high-grade fever. Further causes might be regular stress, smoking, sleep deprivation and inappropriate nutrition.