Gum Disease Treatment – Columbus, NJ
Ensuring a Healthy Foundation for Your Smile
Just like it’s important to have healthy teeth, it’s important to have healthy gums. That’s why we encourage our patients to commit to a solid oral hygiene regimen at home, including flossing at least once a day. If there comes a time when you suspect that something is wrong, like your gums feel tender or bleed easily, let Dr. Fraser and our Columbus Dental Arts team help! You can also read on to learn more about gum disease treatment, including the different types that we offer.
Why Choose Columbus Dental Arts for Gum Disease Treatment?
- Caring, Gentle Dental Team
- Conservative Approach to Dental Treatment
- Gum Screening at Every Checkup
What is Gum Disease?
In short, if too much plaque and tartar accumulate on your gums, you could develop periodontal disease. Also known as gum disease, this oral health problem affects roughly 50% of American adults. Although the symptoms are relatively mild in the beginning, like slight inflammation, the infection can eventually lead to tooth loss if left untreated. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye out for common symptoms and to get in touch with our Columbus dental team if any surface.
Symptoms of Gum Disease
In the early stages of gum disease, you may notice bleeding when you floss, swollen or tender gums, or chronic bad breath. However, as the infection progresses, the symptoms become more severe, like gum recession, a pimple-like bump on the surface, and even tooth loss. That’s why it’s so important for us to provide gum disease treatment early on.
How Do We Treat Gum Disease?
We offer two types of gum disease treatment in Columbus. During your visit, we can discuss both options in-depth, including which one we recommend for you. In the meantime, you can read on to learn a little more about them!
Scaling & Root Planing
Also known as a dental deep cleaning, the scaling and root planing procedure is like a regular cleaning except that it focuses on the parts of the teeth below the gumline. Scaling involves the removal of plaque and tartar deposits – the underlying cause of gum disease – from around the teeth’s roots. Then, we carefully smooth out the rough edges of the roots, which reduces the risk of reinfection by making it more difficult for bacteria to attach to them in the future.
Arestin® Antibiotic Therapy
The tiny spaces between your gums and teeth, called periodontal pockets, are common spots where disease-causing bacteria tend to hide and multiply. It’s difficult to clean these areas with regular dental instruments, but the good news is that we can target them directly with antibiotic therapy. We apply a topical antibiotic called Arestin® to these pockets. Over the next several days, the medicine spreads throughout the gum tissue, eliminating infection from hard-to-reach areas.