Gum disease is a chronic infection that occurs when oral bacteria makes its way beneath the gum line. The underlying tissue that holds your teeth in place is slowly but surely destroyed, ultimately leading to tooth loss. The initial symptoms of gum disease (such as redness and bleeding) may not seem especially serious, but you need to act quickly if you want to keep your smile whole and restore the health of your gums. Call us today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Cappello for gum disease treatment.
To stop gum disease, we’ll have to remove plaque and tartar at or below the gum line. This cannot be done with a standard cleaning; scaling and root planing are required instead. Scaling removes the harmful substances before root planing is used to smooth the roots, making it less likely that bacteria will be able to accumulate on them in the future. You should feel little to no discomfort after the treatment. A follow-up appointment will be scheduled after a few weeks to check how well your mouth responded to the treatment.
Naturally, antibiotics can also sometimes be used to fight the bacteria that contributes to gum disease. The idea behind antibiotic therapy is that even after scaling and root planing are performed, oral bacteria still remain in the mouth and could potentially cause a new infection. Antibiotics will work to kill these bacteria after your in-office gum disease treatment so that the recovery process goes as smoothly as possible. We can also recommend antibiotic therapy as a standalone treatment.
