Periodontal infections affect your oral and overall health, and treating gum disease is important for your continued wellbeing. At Dental Serenity of Manhattan, we provide advanced periodontal care for patients in Manhattan, NY and the Greater New York area. We will put together a treatment plan for renewing your gum health and then discuss prevention to protect against reinfection. If you have bleeding, tender, red, or receding gums, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment at our office.
One of the most significant side effects of gum disease is gum recession, or when your periodontal tissue pulls away from where it should be against the teeth. Gum recession looks bad, causes tooth sensitivity, and can even result in tooth loss if it is allowed to progress.
Using the advanced Chao Pinhole technique, our doctor can give you back your missing gum tissue without the need for sutures, stitches, or long recovery times. It is a far more comfortable and efficient alternative to traditional surgical gum procedures. To perform the procedure, your dentist makes a small hole in your gum tissue above the area of recession and gently pulls healthy tissue back to where it should be. Collagen is then inserted into the gum to encourage healing.
In the beginning stages, gum disease is usually easy to reverse with improved hygiene at home (like better brushing and flossing) and a couple extra visits to our office for additional cleaning. After the pockets, or the areas of infection between your teeth and gums, have reached a certain depth, we will recommend scaling and root planing.
Also known as a deep cleaning, scaling and root planing removes bacteria at and below the gum line, then smooths the tooth’s root to reduce the risk of reinfection. The bacteria that causes gum disease repopulates quickly, and antibiotic may be combined with scaling and root planing for full healing (see Arestin below).
Arestin is a antibiotic treatment combined with scaling and root planing to kill the chronic condition of gum disease. The bacteria that causes periodontitis multiplies very quickly, sometimes faster than we can kill it during successive scaling and root planing treatments. When scaling and root planing are not enough to kill bacteria, combining the approach with Arestin can provide sufficient healing.
Arestin is a powder that is delivered locally, right to the infected pocket. It is administered quickly and easily right at the time of the scaling and root planing treatment, so there is no extra time spent waiting in the chair, and no need for additional appointments. When combined with scaling and root planing, Arestin fights infection for faster healing and reduced chance for reinfection.