Laser Surgery
Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection that often goes undetected or ignored until significant gum and bone destruction has occurred. Untreated gum disease can cause premature tooth loss.
Using the latest technology, we are able to incorporate the use of a laser to assist us in treating gum disease. Laser therapy is less invasive than traditional treatment modalities. The laser disinfects and evaporates diseased tissues from around the tooth and inside the gum pocket; interrupting the bacterial destruction of the tissues and bone, giving the gum pocket a chance to heal. Routine visits, generally two to eight, render the gum pocket to be disease-free and sometimes allow tissues to reattach to the pocket back to a normal or near-normal depth. While traditional surgery may still be indicated for advanced periodontal conditions, laser therapy is a much more conservative, minimally invasive, and may be an option for less advanced periodontal conditions.
Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection that often goes undetected or ignored until significant gum and bone destruction has occurred. Untreated gum disease can cause premature tooth loss.
Using the latest technology, we are able to incorporate the use of a laser to assist us in treating gum disease. Laser therapy is less invasive than traditional treatment modalities. The laser disinfects and evaporates diseased tissues from around the tooth and inside the gum pocket; interrupting the bacterial destruction of the tissues and bone, giving the gum pocket a chance to heal. Routine visits, generally two to eight, render the gum pocket to be disease-free and sometimes allow tissues to reattach to the pocket back to a normal or near-normal depth. While traditional surgery may still be indicated for advanced periodontal conditions, laser therapy is a much more conservative, minimally invasive, and may be an option for less advanced periodontal conditions.
Piezosurgery
The piezosurgery system uses ultrasound waves to cut bone without damaging soft tissue. Whereas traditional methods of bone-cutting, such as drills and burs, result in some tissue and bone loss regardless of the dentist’s precision, piezosurgery technology eliminates this risk. This means our doctors are able to perform procedures such as tooth extractions, crown lengthening, ridge expansion, periodontal therapy, and implant site preparation with increased accuracy and minimal discomfort.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Osseous, or Periodontal Surgery?
Osseous surgery is a procedure that provides access to clean pockets that are too deep to reach with scaling and root planing, known as a “deep cleaning”. The gum tissue is gently reflected so that the roots of the teeth can be seen. Calculus, or bacteria that has hardened to the root surface, is a brown color under the gum tissue. It attaches to the white root surface and can be visualized and thoroughly cleaned with this procedure. Osseous surgery also gives us access to add a bone graft material to regenerate the lost bone around the teeth.
What is Bone Grafting?
The bone graft that we use is a donor or cadaver bone graft. It is real bone that has been sterilized and processed so that all of the cellular components are removed. There is no immune reaction to the bone graft. We draw blood from the patient prior to beginning the procedure to concentrate the healing cells and growth factors using platelet-rich fibrin (PRF). The patient’s own growth factor concentrate is mixed with the sterilized bone graft particles to make a bone putty. This accelerates the healing and makes the bone graft easy to work with and to shape to the defects around the teeth.
What is a Dental Implant?
An implant is a titanium post that replaces the root of the tooth. Implant dentistry involves teamwork between your restorative dentist and your periodontist. First, the implant is placed in the bone by your periodontist. Once the implant has healed, your general dentist creates a tooth that screws into the implant. An implant provides a fixed (non-removeable) option to restore a missing tooth without compromising the adjacent teeth. It is a single-tooth solution to a single-tooth problem.
What is Crown Lengthening?
When decay or a fracture extends below the gum line, crown lengthening is indicated to allow your restorative dentist access to the lesion. Crown lengthening removes gum and bone tissue to expose additional healthy tooth structure. It makes the tooth longer so that there is more tooth structure to work with and to retain the crown. Without crown lengthening, the crown margin may be located too deep under the gum tissue for proper cement isolation and access to remove all decay. Crown lengthening improves retention of the restoration and keeps the crown from falling off over time. Crown lengthening can also be done for esthetic reasons to lengthen anterior teeth and enhance gingival symmetry.