SERVICES

Preventative care is important

 We encourage our patients to be diligent in their preventative care appointment so that we can help ensure the health of their smiles, and treat small issues before they get bigger. 

Diagnosing gum recession

Recession of the gums is a problem caused by periodontal disease that compromises the body’s natural defenses against bacteria and trauma. For minor recession, you may have enough of an existing gumline to still protect your teeth. However, if the recession is too severe, your first line of defense against bacteria is lost. This may also result in root sensitivity, tooth pain, and an unsightly appearance of both the gums and teeth.

Diagnosing bone loss

Bone loss is a serious problem that can accompany tooth loss and can lead to cosmetic changes in your face that affect both your appearance and the way you chew your food. Without the adequate underlying supporting structure of bone, placing dentures or other dental restorations can be difficult. For patients with active periodontal disease, we can treat most cases in-house with scaling and root planing ("deep cleaning"), and we will refer to community periodontists when necessary for more severe or unique cases. Some bone loss can be caused by overnight grinding of your teeth -- we will discuss making custom nightguards with patients when appropriate.

Rebuilding supporting bone

In severe cases, we refer our patients to community periodontists, who can use material from your own bone or one of many available bone substitutes that your body will naturally accept and replace with new, natural bone tissue. This process can restore or regenerate missing bone around teeth that have been subjected to longstanding periodontal disease or to rebuild dental ridges for placement of dental implants.