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Treating Periodontal Disease

Periodontal disease

Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection of the periodontal pockets. Your body will be able to heal from this chronic, inflammatory disease only if the entire bacterial infection is removed.


Endoscopic treatment

Dr. Kutsch pioneered the use of the endoscope to evaluate cavities that occur between teeth. The dental view endoscope is a small fiber-optic camera that shows us the root surfaces under your gum tissue. For periodontal disease, non-surgical treatment using an endoscope is best, although there are some situations which may require a specialist to treat your condition with surgery.

Recent scientific evidence has established a link between periodontal disease and all peripheral vascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. If you have periodontal disease, you may want to consider having your C-reactive protein (CRP) level tested; an elevated level may mean you are at higher risk for heart attack and stroke. Please don’t hesitate to ask us if you have any questions about periodontal disease or would like us to provide copies of the latest scientific study results for you to consider.

Modified cleaning schedule

Once we’ve administered two or more quadrants of periodontal scaling and root planing, we’ll probably ask you to come in every three or four months for regular hygiene appointments. It is very important to understand that you need more than just a normal cleaning when you have this bacterial infection in your gums and deeper pockets than before. These pockets are not accessible by normal brushing and flossing and require your hygienist to manually scale the areas with special instruments. With routine visits and good home care, you may eventually return to six-month cleaning intervals.

Insurance & periodontal treatment

Most dental plans cover periodontal maintenance to some extent. However, many policies only cover cleanings twice in a calendar year, so one or two of your periodontal maintenance recalls may be an out-of-pocket expense.