If you have periodontitis, scaling and root planing treatment can reattach your gums to your teeth and regrow properly.  When applied early enough, this treatment can save your teeth.

What happens when you have periodontitis?

Bacteria in your mouth – known as plaque – gets under your gumline and eats at your gums. It also forms tartar, which makes it difficult for your gums to attach to your teeth.

The result: Pockets.  Pockets are gaps between your tooth and your gumline, where even more bacteria can get trapped and thrive. Pockets are extremely difficult to clean.

As these pockets grow deeper and bigger they begin to threaten your gums more and more. Eventually the bacteria will even eat into your jawbones. Your teeth loosen and may fall out. 

What is scaling and root planing?

Scaling and root planing addresses peridontitis by deep-cleaning your teeth all the way below the gumline. That’s the scaling: getting rid of all the plaque, tartar, and bacteria so that you have a clean mouth to work with.

We then smooth your teeth so that your gums can easily reattach to them, eliminating pockets and reducing your periodontitis to manageable levels. There is no way to cure periodontitis, but with regular bi-annual cleanings we can keep it under control. 

Does scaling and root planing hurt?

Few patients experience any pain during the procedure thanks to the local anesthetic that we administer prior to treatment. Some patients experience pain, swelling, and soreness after, but those side effects can be treated with over-the-counter medications.

Usually the gums heal very quickly, and you’ll see an end to the swelling, bleeding, and tenderness that periodontitis tends to cause prior to the performance of the procedure.  During recovery and afterward, it is important that you practice good oral hygiene habits to ensure that periodontal disease does not return or become worse after treatment.

Get Help Today

If you want to protect your teeth, you have to protect your gums. Gum disease threatens more teeth than cavities ever will. Once advanced gum disease starts it does not go away. The earlier we catch it and deal with it, the better your dental prognosis will be.

Concerned about your gums? Contact Sweet Life Dental in Woodland Hills today to schedule an appointment.

Sweet Life Dental.