FYI: After being diagnosed with periodontal disease, bacteria, plaque and tarter (especially below the gum line) needs to be professionally removed to help control the disease process. The standard length of time between periodontal maintenance appointments is 3 months. That is the length of time it takes bacteria in the pockets to become destructive to the bone and supporting tissue. That's 4 cleanings per year.
While PerioProtect does amazing things, it does not take the place of a dental hygiene visit where bacteria, plaque and tarter are removed above and below the gum line. For some, the health of the periodontal tissue may be so improved with PerioProtect that periodontal maintenance can be performed every 4 months instead.
Now, there are also the infrequent cases of patients with extreme dental phobia. For those patients that are only going to come in once or twice a year because of the anxiety, PerioProtect definitely helps long-term. PerioProtect will not take the place of those missed visits, but it will slow down the effects of the missed appointments.
Next up: what the periodontal maintenance appointment entails and how it differs from a routine prophylaxis/cleaning.
There are a number of reasons why I would recommend PerioProtect:
1. It works!
2. It's pain free.
3. It's easy to use.
4. You can use it from work or home.
At first, I was a little skeptical as to how effective this treatment would be. I read all the published research. I talked first hand to dentists who had used it. I even looked into the studies they did that enabled the PerioProtect system to get FDA clearance. It really sounded just too good to be true. Then we tried it.
We first tried it on a few patients as a last resort before surgery with a periodontist. What I found was, the patients who used it, it worked remarkably well. Now, I would recommend it to anyone who has a history of gum disease! I have even prescribed PerioProtect for my wife.
Most people think of periodontal (gum disease) treatment as being painful and involving surgery. Actually, there are many effective and pain free options for the majority of patients that do not involve surgery. Here are the non-surgical periodontal treatment options we offer:
- PerioProtect, the FDA cleared, pain free way of treating gum disease. For more info on this, read my blog tomorrow and Friday.
- Laser periodontal therapy. This treatment offers me additional ways of treating gum disease without surgery!
- Scaling and root planing. This name actually sounds worse than it is! My hygienists use topical numbing gel for this. For most patients, that works great. On occasion, we have patients that request or even need local anesthesia to ensure their continued comfort. If you are just nervous about the procedure I can additionally provide you with nitrous oxide (laughing gas). And, for more severe cases of anxiety, oral sedation can eliminate your dental anxiety.
Our website has even more information on these periodontal disease treatments. Also, I will discuss PerioProtect specifically in the next few days. It is one of the most amazing things I have seen in dentistry in my 30+ years experience.
