Periodontal Treatment – Conservative
Periodontal disease is a slowly progressing condition that eventually weakens the bone support of the teeth, causing the need for tooth extraction. Treatment of this condition can be surgical, in which the diseased gum and bone tissue are removed and/or reshaped to allow proper cleaning, or conservative, which is explained in the information below.
If conservative periodontal therapy is elected, the patient must have an active role in carrying out the procedures described below. The following are procedures included in conservative periodontal therapy:
- We will provide education providing enough information for the patient to understand the disease.
- We will provide hygiene instruction to motivate the patient to upgrade their oral cleaning habits.
- We will demonstrate tongue cleaning. The tongue is a reservoir for billions of microorganisms that cause periodontal disease.
- Daily antimicrobiologic rinses will be suggested from the first appointment of conservative therapy.
- Professional scaling, root planing, and polishing of the teeth will be provided for you every two or three months.
- Low level systemic antibiotic therapy to control the organisms causing periodontal disease will be prescribed if periodontal disease is still active in the mouth after two or three months of the previous treatments.
- Local antibiotics will be delivered to the most affected areas of the mouth if the patient does not respond positively after two or three months of the previous treatments.
Both surgical and conservative therapy can be successful. You and your dentist must decide which is best for you.