Periodontal treatment, or periodontistry, is the process of cleaning and improving the condition of your teeth and gums. There are many ways to treat your teeth and gums, but one of the more common is non surgical periodontal treatment.
Non surgical periodontal treatment can be referred to as apical occlusion, intraoral appliances, or other names. The term non surgical refers to the fact that this procedure does not involve removing any part of the tooth or gum. It does, however, improve the health and appearance of that tooth or gum.
This procedure can be very effective if performed by a highly trained professional. Doing it yourself can lead to poor results or a lack of interest in following up with a professional.
This article will discuss some different non surgical periodontal treatments that may not apply to every patient, but give them enough time they will see how effective they are and why they are necessary.
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Soft tissue grafting
Soft tissue grafting is one of several non surgical periodontal treatments. Another is using a pocket clip, which is a small device that creates a pocket within which dental implants can be placed.
A pocket clip can be placed in a patient’s bracket, behind the bottom bracket of the tooth. When the patient goes to place a premium-size tooth in the socket, the surgeon will first have to remove the previous replacement tooth and clean it out. Then he or she will reinsert the new top replacement tooth into the socket.
The remaining bone around it must then be reconstituted and pressed back into place by the surgeon. This process may take several visits, depending on how successful it is in reassembling the bone and holding it in place.
This treatment does not cure your disease, but it does help with pain and quality of life.
Osseous grafting
Osseous grafting is a technique that returns the natural support of the gum and periodontal (or tooth) shells back to your jaw. The process involves cutting away part of one side of the jaw and depositing bone from another in place.
Osseous grafting was first popularized in conjunction with low-cost antibiotic mouthwash treatments. Today, it is still a relatively new therapy, having been around for less than five years.
This procedure does not cure anything—it only supports new bone growth. So, if you have been suffering with dry mouth or poor esthetics at the Gingiva level, this may be the treatment for you.
However, there are some risks associated with this treatment, so it is important to know how to properly perform it.
Home tooth bleaching
There are a few alternatives to periodontal surgery. These include home tooth bleaching, at-home periodontal treatments, and visit-only dental offices. All of these can help reduce the pain and improve the overall esthetic of your mouth.
At-home treatments typically involve using whitening gel or powder sticks that you place in your mouth for a set duration of time. You then have to rinse them off as they burn into your teeth.
At-home therapies typically require you to coordinate with your doctor about how much and where in your mouth they should be applied. These seem more risky than do-it-at-home alternatives because of possible side effects or insufficient coverage.
Visit-only dental offices can only see you after you’ve taken some steps to reduce pain like holding the bite or placing an ice pack on the area. Dental hygienists can also recommend home tooth bleaching if there is no other alternative.
Platelet-rich plasma therapy
Performing a periodontal treatment using platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) is a relatively new non surgical periodontal treatment. PRP was originally developed for treating cancer, but has been used in various ways for pain management and/or healing.
PRP was initially thought to be only helpful when applied topically, but recent research has proven this to be false. In 2016, an article published in the Journal of Clinical Periodology revealed that aphasia, or loss of an individual word meaning, was one of the few symptoms that occurred during the healing process for some patients who underwent PRP therapy.
This symptom occurred within the first week after surgery and lasted for around a week until someone else healed it enough to correct it. As this happens, the patient may feel like they are saying something but being unable to do so due to having lost their understanding of words.
Biologic therapy
A third non surgical periodontal treatment is biologic therapy. This is a term that describes the use of either biological or chemical agents to treat disease.
There are many ways to treat periodontal disease, but biologics are one of the more common ones. Biologics typically contain some sort of bacteria or fungus that works together to maintain a periodontal seal.
The goal of biologics is to restore and maintain a healthy periodontal environment within the oral cavity. This requires frequent cleaning, which is why so many people opt for a weekly schedule or monthly schedule for treating their periodontal disease.
Another way to treat periodontal disease is with chemical agents such as bitolates or thiodents, which are either natural or manmade drugs that can affect both the bacteria and the collagen in the mouth and around the root.
These can potentially cause local effects such as pain or tenderness where treatment takes place, but do not necessarily prevent adequate clearance of these organisms.
Intra-oral devices (iontotherapy)
A device that is inserted into the mouth and then treated with iontotherapy, which is a non-invasive treatment method. This device is placed in the mouth and then treated with an irrigant, or chemical that penetrates the tissue and dries it out.
This treatment can be used for many things from removing old food particles to reducing gum recession. It can be very effective as most people who suffer from bad gum recession cannot remove enough of the irrigant to make a difference.
However, there are many professionals that use this device for different reasons than those who do not have professional training.
Periodontal surgery
Perio-tault is an alternative to periodontal surgery. It refers to the treatment or management of tooth structure at its least healthy, or incisor-apical, site.
It can refer to several treatments including:
Depending on your circumstances, one of these may be appropriate for you. Perio-tault can also refer to other non surgical periodontal treatments such as:
paying attention to oral health problems such as cavities and gum disease instead of just surgery.
using certain techniques like retraction devices or guidedoneying procedures before and after surgery to help with healing.
periodic re-examinations for diagnosis and treatment.
Tooth extraction
Another rare event is when a person has to extract a person’s own teeth. This happens when the person cannot maintain the health of their periodontal ligaments, which help hold the tooth in place.
When this happens, the doctor must remove one or more teeth to preserve the natural health of the surrounding bone and tissue. In most cases, this happens in late life, when other options for oral health have failed.
Periodontal disease can be extremely hard to treat. Even with advanced treatment, people can have tooth loss or decay due to bacteria getting into the space between the teeth.
This can last for years before it is noticed and treated. Fortunately, it is possible to detect early signs of periodontal disease with x-rays.