Periodontal Therapy

Treating Periodontal Disease in Baton Rouge

Of course, if you experience periodontal disease, you need to make sure that you treat it as soon as possible. This will help to minimise its impact on your dental and oral health and can prevent potential tooth loss down the line. Your dentist is likely to recommend periodontal therapy to get your teeth and gums back on track. Periodontal therapy tends to involve three different phases that will help to restore your dental health. These are the etiological phase, the surgical phase and the maintenance phase.

The Etiological Phase

The first step you are likely to take in your treatment for periodontal disease will largely focus on controlling the infection and restoring the healthy microbiota that should be present in your mouth. You are likely to have a consultation and dental check that will allow your dentist to take a look around your mouth and identify the problem that is causing your periodontal disease.

Once your dentist has taken a look at your mouth, they will be able to give you individual and personalized advice regarding what you need to do to take care of your teeth at home and to manage your dental health effectively. This will involve steps pertaining to your dental hygiene routine (such as brushing with fluoride toothpaste, flossing and using approved antibacterial mouthwashes), as well as general healthcare advice, such as stopping smoking (as smoking can cause countless dental problems and overall poor dental health).

During this appointment, or in the following appointment, your dentist may also want to carry out procedures such as “scaling” and “root planing”. These are effective forms of deep cleaning for your teeth that will help to build any buildup of plaque and calculus that may be present. If necessary, your dentist may also prescribe medications to help.

The Surgical Phase

If scaling and root planing don’t prove effective at resolving your dental problems, your dentist may recommend surgical treatments to resolve your periodontal disease. This is the most common course of action that dentists take when you have infection or pockets of plaque that are too deep to clean properly. This is a phase that can last for more than one appointment, taking multiple appointments of procedures to resolve the problem.

Examples of periodontal disease surgery include leveling shallow bone defects or using regenerative surgical techniques for deep bone defects. What’s important is that these forms of surgery help to remove pockets of space between the teeth and the bone that can be broken down or destroyed by bacteria that is present in periodontal disease.

The Maintenance Phase

Once you’ve experienced surgery, you need to make sure that periodontal disease isn’t able to return. Careful maintenance can help you to achieve this.

During a short appointment, your dentist can help you to draw up a dental hygiene plan that will help to keep your teeth clean and in good condition. This is likely to include details on proper brushing and flossing techniques, as well as recommending the use of mouthwash to remove any leftover bacteria that may still be present.

If you have had implants or prosthetics added to your mouth during dental surgery, your dentist will also be able to advise you on how to take care of them properly.

Periodontal therapy can prove highly effective when it comes to resolving and staving off periodontal disease. If you feel that this is something that you could benefit from, get in touch! Our team here at The Smile Spa in Baton Rouge, Louisiana will be more than happy to help!