Can you get rid of Periodontal Disease?
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If Debs is truely a dental professional, I am shocked that she would think that you can get rid of periodontal disease. No you can not. There is no cure for it. Once you have it you will always have it. You can maintain it and keep it from progressing usually. Bone loss, which is a result of periodontal disease, is actually a result of your bodies response to the bacteria that cause periodontal disease. I know, that makes no sense to hear that your own body is causing the bone loss, but research has proven it. You liver produces protiens that go to those pockets to attack the bacteria and in the process, bone loss does occur. My dentist is the biggest dental nerd and does research on periodontal disease all the time. He comes back from seminars and teaches me what he learned. Periodontal disease has been linked to heart disease, heart attacks and diabetes. It really does affect your whole body health.
The maintenance that you need to do involved treating the pocketing. You will probably need to have the pockets cleaned out, which is deep cleaning or Root planing and curattage (I am a horrible speller, sorry). Sometimes they will use an antibiotic, such as Arestin, that is placed right in those deeper pockets, to try to reduce the depth of the pocket. You would probably be put on a 3-4 month recall from now on, or at least for a couple of years. You will always need to get on track with the recalls or you will sooner or later be going through the deep cleaning again one day. They need to do measurements on your bone levels and pocketing at least 2 times a year to keep ahead of the disease.
There is a new way to regrow bone lost due to periodontal disease. Now, not all people are candidates, but this is the only proven way to regrow bone. It is called a Periolase. It is a laser machine that targets black pigment, which is what the bacteria in those pockets contains. There are just too many details to go into on here, but you might want to check into this machine if you are loosing bone at all. There are only about 250 dentists in the US that own one of these lasers, because they are very expensive and are reletively new to dentistry. Obviously we own one, but that is another story.
I hope that I have helped you a little.
Feel free to IM or email me with any more questions.
You can not get rid of periodontal disease but you can maintain it by seeing your dentist often to have your teeth cleaned and the pockets monitored. It is something you have to stay on top of because if it is not maintained you can eventually lose your teeth to the disease. The bacteria that causes gum disease actually destroys the bone the surrounds your teeth causing them to become loose and infected. Hope this helps.....good luck.
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