A deep cleaning, or scaling and root
planning, is needed to remove all hardened bacteria (tarter), from below the
gum line. The goal upon removal is to
promote: bacteria reduction, healthy gum attachment to the tooth and stop the
progression and spread of periodontal disease.
Periodontal
disease is an infection of the gum and bone that holds your teeth in
place. If untreated, it can lead to
tooth loss. Periodontal disease is often
painless and you may not even notice a problem until it’s in the advanced
stages. The good news is, when caught
early and with scaling and root planning treatment you can stop the disease.
Periodontal
Disease
- Soft plaque left on your teeth (i.e. not brushing and flossing daily) will calcify and turn hard.
- This hardened plaque is now called tarter or calculus and you can’t brush it off. You need your dental hygienist to remove it.
- This calculus left on your teeth, causes your body to start the inflammation process. You will notice: bad breath, bleeding, swollen or puffy gum tissue.
- You now have an infection in your gums.
- This infection will spread, tooth to tooth and infect the bone supporting your teeth.
- Once the bone is infected you may notice teeth loosening and possibly tooth loss.
What
is a deep cleaning or scaling and root planning?
Scaling and root planning is a method of
treating periodontal disease. Using Novocain
to keep you comfortable, your hygienist will remove the hardened bacteria
(calculus) from way under your gum tissue.
The tooth’s root surface is the
removed of calculus, debris and diseased tissue. With the root surface now smooth, the gum
tissue can heal, gum swelling is reduced and the pocket (space between your
tooth and gum) will shrink. This will
make it harder for plaque to settle in under the gum tissue. Typically scaling and root planning will
take 2 visits.
After scaling in
root planning is complete and the gums have healed, a re-evaluation appointment
will occur. At that appointment your
hygienist will evaluate the health of your gums, home-care, measure pockets and
areas of bleeding. After all information
is gathered it is then when, together we will determine how often a dental
cleaning is needed. You are at higher
risk and may require closer monitoring to ensure periodontal disease is kept at
bay.
You invested
time and money in scaling and root planning and we want to make sure
periodontal disease doesn’t come back.
Be sure to: floss daily, brush twice a day, quit smoking and maintain
regular dental cleanings.
