Dr. Jennifer Vitarelli

Periodontal Therapy

Dental surgery instrumentsIf you experience an excessive amount of tartar and plaque and bleeding of your gingival tissue, you may benefit from more frequent cleanings. If examination reveals bone loss and gingival recession, a deeper cleaning is required to eliminate the plaque and tartar below the gum line.

Some symptoms of periodontal disease are:

  • bad breath that you can’t get rid of
  • swollen gums
  • tender or bleeding gums
  • loose and/or shifting teeth

Periodontal therapy procedures can take various forms, but the goal is always to restore diseased tissues to health. Gum(periodontal) disease can spread from the gums to the bone that supports the teeth, and may even cause tooth loss in the most severe cases. There are very effective therapies to combat this, ranging from scalings(deep cleanings) that remove plaque and calculus(tartar) from beneath the gum line, to surgical repair of lost gum and bone tissue.