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Active Periodontal Therapy
November 18, 2008 in General Health, dental hygiene, periodontal disease | Tags: Active Periodontal Therapy, advanced stage of gum disease, aggressive treatment, anesthetized, antibiotics, appointment, APT, bacteria, bone loss, brushing, calibrated probe, comfort, complete clinical exam, complete dental exam, conservative, curettage, daily, debridement, debris, deep pockets, dental check-up, dental cleaning, dental health, dental team, dental visits, diseased soft tissue, expertise, flossing, gingivitis, gum disease, gum specialist, gum tissue, heals, homecare, infection, irrigation of pockets, maintain, medicated rinse, mouth, one-hour appointment, oral hygiene, periodontitis, pocket depth, progression of periodontal disease, quadrant, rededing gums, scaling and root planing, scaling device, severity, surgical needs, tooth surface, treatment for periodontal disease, ultasonic device, underlying or predisposing conditions, X-rays | Leave a comment
Active Periodontal Therapy (Treatment for Periodontal Disease)
How do we treat gum disease (periodontal disease)? See my website at http://www.lajolladental.com/Procedures_Treatment_42712.aspx It depends where you are at with the progression of the disease. A major component of dental health is what we do for ourselves everyday – homecare. Brushing three times a day (after breakfast, midday, and after dinner) and flossing after dinner are the minimum you should be doing to get back to dental health. The other major component is regular dental visits. Cleaning and check-up at least every six months. With early gum disease (gingivitis) this may be enough. Let the dental team clean your mouth up twice a year and you maintain it daily.
Once we slip to a more advanced stage of gum disease, periodontitis, we have receding gums and/or bone loss. Here, the dental team will need to be more aggressive in their treatment of you. They will take a complete medical-dental history to identify any underlying or predisposing conditions, and do a complete clinical exam. The dental team will take X-rays, a full set is usually indicated. They will also evaluate the depth of the pockets around each tooth using a calibrated probe.
Most patients at this point will require Active Periodontal Therapy and/or a referral to a gum specialist. We treat most patients here and refer out only the surgical needs. the Active Periodontal Therapy consists of scaling and root planing, debridement, irrigation of the pockets with a medicated rinse, and perhaps placement of antibiotics in specific isolated pockets.
Active Periodontal Therapy is similar to the scaling normally done during a routine oral hygiene visit, however, it differs in several significant ways. Infection and the resulting deep pockets exist around your teeth requiring deeper than normal scaling. Since vision is blocked into the tooth structure, small scaling devices (either manual or ultrasonic) will be placed carefully into the pockets and a systematic smoothing of the tooth root surfaces will be performed. Debris that has collected on the tooth surfaces will be removed along with the diseased soft tissue. This procedure (called curettage) requires significant time and expertise. Usually, only one area of your mouth will be done per appointment. The number of the one-hour appointments needed will depend on the severity of your infection. You will be anesthetized for your comfort during these procedures.
Your gum tissue may shrink somewhat as it heals. This is desirable because it reduces the depth of the pockets allowing you to better remove bacteria and debris during your home care. Active Periodontal Therapy is the most conservative way to treat gum disease.
Periodontal Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease
November 12, 2008 in General Health, dental hygiene, periodontal disease | Tags: Alzheimer's Disease, attachment loss, bone loss, central nervous system, chronic periodontal disease, gum infection, gum inflammation, infection, inflammation in the brain, periodontal disease, peripheral infection, systematic disease | Leave a comment
Periodontal Disease (gum inflammation, infection, bone and attachment loss) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)-
Is there a link? The exact mechanisms responsible for the cause and development of AD have yet to be identified, but inflammation within the brain is believed to play a key role. As reported in Alzheimer’s Dement, July 2008, peripheral infection/inflammation may affect the inflammatory state of the central nervous system. Chronic Periodontal Disease is a prevalent peripheral infection that has been associated recently with several systematic diseases (see previous blogs) including AD. These studies suggest that chronic periodontal disease may potentially contribute to the clinical onset and progression of Alheimer’s Disease. As chronic periodontal disease is a treatable and controllable infection (not curable), it may well be a readily modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease. Establishing and maintaining healthy gums now, could lessen your risk of developing this awful disease.
