To achieve periodontal health without invasive treatments, doctors recommend non-surgical procedures such as scaling and root planing, and a tray delivery system. Scaling and root planing is a careful cleaning of the root’s various surfaces to remove any plaque and bacterial toxins. A tray delivery system involves a custom-fit tray that is used to deliver prescribed medications at home, similar to a fluoride tray.

In laser therapy, your periodontist uses a laser to access and remove any inflamed gum tissue from around your tooth’s root. Working in conjunction with other traditional therapies, the laser treatment removes the tartar and plaque built up along the gumline.

These procedures aim to reverse damage by regenerating lost bone and tissue that support your teeth. During this procedure, your periodontist pushes back the gum tissue and removes any disease-causing bacteria. Membranes, bone grafts, or tissue-stimulating proteins are inserted to supplement your body’s natural ability to regenerate bone and tissue.

Dental crown lengthening is performed to expose more of your natural teeth by removing and reshaping any excess gum tissue. These procedures are often performed to improve a “gummy” smile, where your teeth appear very short due to gum coverage.

Pockets are formed around the teeth as a result of supporting tissue and bone being destroyed from periodontal disease. These pockets can become deeper over time, which provides a larger space for harmful bacteria to live. In a pocket reduction procedure, your periodontist folds back the gum tissues and removes the disease-causing bacteria before securing the tissue back into place.

Along with dental crown lengthening, there are a number of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures that periodontist may perform, including root coverage procedures and ridge augmentation. Root coverage may be necessary when gum recession causes the tooth’s root to become exposed, which makes your teeth look very long. To reduce further gym recession and to fortify vulnerable roots from decay, gum graft surgery and other root coverage procedures are available. In addition, unnatural indentations in the gumline often occur as a result of a missing tooth. To combat these indentations, ridge augmentation can be used to fill in this defect by reformed the natural contour of the gums and jaw.