Gum Treatment

What are the Types of Gum Treatments?

Treatment options depend on the stage of disease and how one responds to earlier treatments. Certain procedures such as dental implants are definitive and end with placement of a functional dental restoration. Other procedures such as scaling and root planing should be continued every 3 to 6 months to maintain healthy gums.

• Scaling
  Scaling refers to careful cleaning of the teeth and gums to remove plaque and tartar. Everyone should have a good professional dental cleaning every 3 to 6 months.
• Root Planing (deep cleaning)
  Root planing is required when tartar (calculus) is deeply entrenched and there is a separation of gums from the teeth. This is the beginning of tooth loss if left untreated. Local anaesthetic is used to numb-up sections of the gums for thorough cleaning, especially when there is a significant separation of gums from the teeth and pockets of space form around roots.
• Gum Surgery
  Gum (periodontal) surgery is recommended when there is a significant separation between the gum and the teeth (deep pockets). Such deep pockets are difficult to access for thorough removal of calculus and disinfection. In this procedure, the gums are carefully reflected aside to reveal the true extent of infected calculus.Sometimes, the shape of the bone around the infected teeth is shaped to speed-up healing. In other cases, the bone and periodontal (gum) tissues can be re-created via Guided Tissue Regeneration.
• Gum Grafts
  Gum grafting enables a new piece of gum tissue to be placed over the exposed root to restore the gum tissue back to its original form and position. This stops the tooth from further wear and tear at the root area, which helps maintain stability of the tooth.Tissue from the palate (roof of the mouth) will be used as a graft and transplanted onto the recipient area. The gums around the recipient site (the exposed root) are gently lifted away and the graft material is secured in place with fine sutures approximately the size of a hair.The grafting procedure takes about an hour for a small area and a proportionately longer time for wider areas.For more information, please visit our Gum Graft page.
• Dental Implants
  Dental implants are man-made titanium surgical screws that are placed in the jaw bone to replace the root of the missing tooth. A healing period of several months is needed for the implant(s) to bond with the jaw bone. Finally, the implant crown will be fitted.For more information, please visit our Dental Implant page.