The condition of your gums has a great deal to do with how healthy your teeth will be, and how long you will have them. Experienced San Diego area dentist Dr. Jennifer D. Santoro recommends deep cleaning to eliminate plaque below the gum line, dramatically improving the health of your gums and brightening the future of your smile.
Excess plaque buildup under the gum line causes gingivitis. With this condition, gum pockets increase in volume, eventually separating the gum from the bone and creating a haven for bacteria. The bacteria eat away at the root and the bone which secures it. At some point, you may lose the affected tooth as it becomes unmoored from your jaw.
Deep Cleaning
Using effective planing and root scaling techniques, Dr. Santoro can reverse this process, by cleaning out the gum pockets and injecting an antibiotic solution to suppress future bacterial growth. Severe cases of gum disease may also need grafts of bone or soft tissue to restore the bone and fortify the root.
Plaque trapped in the pockets around your teeth cannot be eliminated by regular brushing and flossing. In general, any gum pocket deeper than 3 millimeters is a warning sign that you are developing periodontal disease and that scaling and root planing is needed. When gums redden and begin to bleed, significant damage to structures below the gum line has already begun to occur.
Planing and scaling usually requires several visits, as one or two mouth quadrants are meticulously cleaned during an appointment. You will receive a local anesthetic, and, depending on patient preference, an insert that will comfortably keep your mouth open during the procedure.
The scaling aspect of the procedure involves removing hardened plaque, known as tartar, that has formed around the root and may have already compromised the stability of the root-bone connection. Root planing is a process by which the surface of the root is made smoother, in turn making it easier for your gums to reattach to the teeth.
To schedule your appointment, or to discuss planing and scaling, call Dr. Santoro at (858) 566-8510, or email Village Center Dentistry in Scripps Ranch today.
