At Periodontal Associates of Memphis, our goal is to prevent periodontal disease from causing lasting damage to your gums. Most Americans have some stage of gum disease, ranging from mild gingivitis to advanced periodontal disease. Our office offers treatment for every stage of gum disease, allowing us to stop or even reverse its effects to restore your gums to health and minimize the chances of tooth loss.
Dr. Godat and Dr. King are the most experienced periodontists in Memphis and can provide you with excellent care. Contact us for an appointment today!
What is Periodontal Disease?
More adults lose teeth from periodontal disease than tooth decay. Contact us today to talk about periodontal treatment.
Periodontal disease is the number one reason for tooth loss, even over tooth decay or trauma. In its early stages, gum disease is often referred to as gingivitis. If you notice that your gums bleed slightly or are sensitive when you brush and floss your teeth, you are likely among the hundreds of thousands of Americans in the early stages of periodontitis.
Over time, irritated gums pull away from the teeth and pockets form between the gum and the tooth, allowing bacteria to gain a foothold. This causes further irritation, and the pockets become deeper as gum tissue becomes diseased and shrinks further. The cycle continues, and eventually teeth can become loose as the supporting bone in the jaw also becomes infected and begins to dissolve.
A patient is considered to have advanced periodontal disease when the pockets are extremely deep, infection is almost constant, and tooth loss has begun. As teeth fall out, the supporting structure of the arch is destroyed, and the result is the gradual loss of adjacent teeth. The bone of the jaw continues to deteriorate, and eventually the patient is left edentulous (toothless).
Benefits of Periodontal Treatment
Stopping periodontitis can heal your gums, prevent bone loss, and allow you to keep your natural teeth for decades longer. For patients who have already begun to experience tooth loss, periodontal treatment in Memphis can provide a stable platform for dental implants to replace individual lost teeth, or implant supported dentures to create a brand new smile.
In addition, periodontal treatment can improve your overall health. Periodontal disease can increase your risk for other health problems, such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Unchecked gum disease can also exacerbate existing conditions, such as diabetes and lung disease.
Do I Have Gum Disease?
Common early indicators of gum disease include bad breath (halitosis), sensitivity and/or bleeding of the gums when brushing or flossing, gums shrinking away from the teeth, and red, irritated, or swollen gums. However, periodontal disease can exist and spread even when no obvious symptoms are present.
A periodontist in Memphis can check for gum disease by examining your gums and teeth, looking for calculus (tartar) below the gumline, and measuring the depth of periodontal pockets – the space between the gum and the tooth it surrounds.
Prevention, Early Treatment, and Reversal of Gum Disease
Periodontal disease can often be prevented with a strict oral hygiene routine that includes brushing and flossing at least twice daily and seeing a dentist every six months for a cleaning. If gingivitis occurs, you can see a Memphis periodontist and have a “deep cleaning” to remove buildup of plaque and calculus below the gumline.
If needed, a non-surgical scaling and root planing can also be done to remove all traces of plaque and bacteria, and antibiotics can be administered to deepened gum pockets to get rid of infection. Periodontal disease can often be reversed by these treatments and the institution of an at-home oral health regimen.
Periodontal Disease Treatments
If gum pockets have become extremely deep, and the roots of your teeth are exposed, non-surgical or surgical intervention can often restore health to your gums and stop further damage from occurring.
Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure (LANAP) utilizes laser therapy to removed diseased gum tissue and stimulate new bone growth, as an alternative to traditional gum surgery techniques.
Osseous surgery is a more traditional surgical gum treatment which can be used for severe cases in which calculus and infection have penetrated far below the gumline.
Both of these treatments can help clear infection, eliminate diseased tissue, and restore gum pockets to a normal depth. With proper follow-up care, results can be long lasting and oral health can be maintained.
PERIODONTICS PRESENTATION
To provide you with a better understanding of periodontics, we have provided the following multimedia presentation. Many common questions pertaining to periodontics are discussed.
Advanced Periodontal Solutions
If your gum disease is advanced, there are several treatment options to help stop more damage from occurring, prevent additional tooth loss, and restore health to your gums and underlying bone.
Bone preservation and regeneration can be used when bone has started to dissolve, by encouraging new growth and stabilizing the jaw and sinus areas to prepare them for dental implantation.
Bone grafting can be used when bone loss is already significant to provide a fresh start for your smile, by adding bone to your jaw and encouraging the growth of new bone to support dental implants.
In many cases, periodontal treatment is a required step before performing cosmetic dental procedures or full mouth reconstruction. Dr. Godat, and Dr. King can help you determine what periodontal care you require and create a treatment plan to restore your oral health.
PreTreatment: Short stubby teeth make the face appear fuller just like horizontal stripes on a shirt. PostTreatment: Longer Teeth accentuate the face. Longer teeth make the face look longer which makes one look thinner just like vertical stripes on a shirt.