Gum Disease Treatment Sparks
Helping You Stop Gum Disease in Its Tracks
Despite being preventable, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 50% of adults have a form of gum disease. Although it might not seem concerning at first, it can ultimately lead to the loss of your teeth. Over time, it can also adversely affect your general health. Thankfully, we can stop the infection in its tracks with gum disease treatment in Sparks. From scaling and root planing to Perio Protect, we can help keep your smile healthy and gum disease-free! If you’ve been noticing bleeding or swollen gums, don’t wait to contact our office to schedule an appointment!
Why Choose Vista Dental Care for Gum Disease Treatment?
- Dedicated Dentists with Years of Experience
- Advanced Technology Ensures Efficient Care
- Sedation Options for Anxious Patients
What is Gum Disease?
Gum disease is caused by plaque and tartar buildup at the gum line that irritates soft tissue, leading to sores and the slow deterioration of supportive soft tissue and jawbone density. What begins as mild irritation can quickly transform into a detrimental issue and the leading cause of tooth loss among US adults.
Warning Signs of Gum Disease
At each six-month checkup, we screen for the common early warning signs of periodontal disease. That includes charting the depths of the pockets between teeth and gums, since increased pocket depth is one of the earliest indicators of gum disease. By keeping track of changes in pocket depth, we’re able to begin treatment in the earliest possible stages. If you’ve experienced any early indicators of gum disease, including bleeding gums, soft tissue inflammation, and chronic bad breath, or it’s been more than six months since your last professional teeth cleaning, we encourage you to contact our office right away.
How We Treat Gum Disease
In the earliest stages of gum disease, gingivitis, we can typically renew oral health with more frequent professional teeth cleanings and improved at-home hygiene. As periodontal disease spreads, we may need to provide more advanced treatments like scaling and root planing. Scaling is the removal of plaque and tartar buildup from the gum tissue pockets, and root planing is the smoothing of roots to prevent the future buildup of plaque and tartar. Following scaling and root planing, we may also recommend the use of topical antibiotics and antimicrobial mouth rinses.
Scaling & Root Planing
The first line of defense to prevent gum disease from worsening is a deep cleaning. Also known as scaling and root planing, these two procedures remove harmful tartar buildup and smooth the root surfaces to allow the gum tissue to heal. It also discourages future accumulations. When combined with changes to your home oral hygiene routine, it’s an effective solution to treat gum disease.
What is Scaling and Root Planing?
If you experience bleeding gums in Sparks, you might have gum disease. While the symptoms may not seem alarming at first, the condition will slowly destroy the supporting structures of your teeth. The bacteria responsible for the infection can also enter your bloodstream, wreaking havoc on your general health. At the first sign of the infection, it’s best to contact our office right away for treatment.
Scaling and root planing actually involve two separate procedures. Also known as a deep cleaning, it removes hardened plaque and allows the gum tissue to heal. During the scaling portion of the treatment, a special dental tool is used to clean plaque and tartar from above and below the gum line. After the gingival pockets are cleaned, root planing is used to smooth the surfaces of the teeth and their roots. This allows the gum tissue to reattach to them to seal out future buildup.
Depending on the severity of the infection, we may recommend more than one appointment to complete your entire mouth. To ensure your comfort, we may also suggest an anesthetic.
Recovering from Scaling & Root Planing
It’s normal to experience some pain and tenderness for a couple of days after your procedure. You may also have tooth sensitivity for as long as two weeks while your mouth heals. You’ll also want to avoid eating any hard, crunchy, or spicy foods. During your recovery, you can control any discomfort using an over-the-counter pain reliever. We may also use a medication that’s applied directly into the gingival pockets to ease pain.
We’ll explain how to maintain your oral hygiene to reduce the risk of infection while your gums heal. Afterward, it’s important to commit to an effective oral hygiene routine to prevent reinfection. Besides caring for your smile at home, we may also recommend more frequent appointments with your dentist in Sparks.
Perio Protect
Perio Protect uses custom dental trays to deliver medicine deep into the pockets between your gums and teeth. All you have to do is use the trays in the comfort of your own home for a few minutes each day. Perio Protect can be used as a standalone treatment, or it can complement our other periodontal services. As a bonus, it offers some outstanding side effects. Many patients notice that their teeth are whiter and their breath is much fresher when they consistently use their Perio Protect system!
What is Perio Protect?
Perio Protect uses customized dental trays to deliver medicine into the pockets between your gums and teeth. It reaches areas of your mouth that are difficult, if not impossible, to access via regular brushing and flossing. You simply wear the trays in the comfort of your own home and enjoy your journey toward healthier gums. Each patient’s Perio Protect treatment plan is unique, so how long and how often you should wear the trays each day can vary.
Benefits of Perio Protect
The top benefits of Perio Protect include:
- Noninvasive treatment: It might help you avoid the need for surgery, scaling and root planing, and other traditional gum disease treatments.
- Simple & convenient: After your trays are created, we will coach you on how to use them. Most patients have to wear them for mere minutes each day.
- Enjoy a fresher smile: The Perio Protect formula contains hydrogen peroxide. In addition to fighting the bacteria that cause gum disease, the peroxide also freshens breath and whitens teeth.
- Truly comfortable: Since the trays are created to fit your unique teeth, you can expect them to feel comfortable in your mouth.
- Reliably effective: The Perio Protect trays have a patented seal that keeps medicine where it belongs — in your gums. With consistent and correct use, you can expect to experience noticeable results within a relatively short period of time.
Is Perio Protect Right for Me?
When you visit us for your gum health consultation, we will decide which form of periodontal therapy is right for you. Perio Protect may be used as a standalone treatment, or it may be used to complement other procedures. It can help most patients, including both those with advanced gum disease and those whose condition is in its early stages.
Are you ready to learn more about Perio Protect? Contact us today to ask questions or schedule a consultation.
Antibiotic Treatment
When combined with deep cleaning procedures, target antibiotic treatment can effectively reduce bacteria in hard-to-reach places and promote healing. This treatment supports healthier gums, prevents further damage, and enhances the success of your overall personalized gum disease treatment plan.
How to Prevent Gum Disease
Like other areas of oral health, we begin working with patients to develop a personalized plan to maintain the highest level of oral health. That all begins with in-office teeth cleanings every six months paired with thorough at-home hygiene. It’s essential to brush teeth at least two times daily and floss at least once a day. During checkups, our team can demonstrate the best at-home hygiene methods, make recommendations for the right products, and help you maximize your at-home hygiene routine. We also provide prescription toothpastes or mouth rinses as necessary to boost the benefit of your oral hygiene routine.