Everyone knows that regular visits to the dentist is the necessary companion of dental care at home. But where does periodontal care fit in? Typically, dentists are concerned with the health and appearance of your teeth, while periodontists specialize in treating the gums, tissues, and bones that keep the teeth strong.
While you’re likely used to regular dental cleanings and consultations, periodontal maintenance may not immediately come to mind when you think of your oral health care routine. But did you know that periodontal maintenance matters just as much as regular dental cleanings and shouldn’t be overlooked?
From preventing and detecting the first signs of gum disease, to maintaining dental implants, periodontists recommend regular visits to their clinics to keep your gums healthy and ensure that they can support your teeth. Let’s take a deep dive into why regular periodontal maintenance matters, and start forming this habit.
What is periodontal maintenance?
Periodontal maintenance is a general term for regular visits to your periodontist in Mississauga for any number of routine periodontal care treatments. During these visits, your periodontist will check on the health of your gums, look for signs of gum disease and other complications, and perform routine treatments, such as periodontal cleanings.
The main benefit of regular periodontal maintenance is early detection and treatment. Through regular check-ups and cleanings, your periodontist can prevent gum disease from progressing, as well as more severe issues like risk of tooth loss and oral infection. Your periodontist can perform scaling and root planing, two deep periodontal cleaning techniques to eliminate plaque buildup and tartar beneath the gum line and prevent worsening of gum disease.
What does periodontal maintenance entail?
Periodontal maintenance is a crucial measure that helps keep your gums, tissues, and bones that support the teeth healthy. Each visit involves a few steps that help your periodontist detect early signs of gum disease and recommend treatment. Here’s what periodontal maintenance typically includes:
- Medical imaging: Your periodontist will take x-rays and scans of your gums and jawbone to assess their health.
- Periodontal exam: Your periodontist will check for signs of gum disease, such as pockets between the gums and teeth created by bacteria and measure their size, called gum charting.
- Deep cleaning: Your periodontist may also deep clean your gums through scaling and root planing to remove plaque buildup and tartar underneath the gum line.
Benefits of Periodontal Maintenance
Next to good oral hygiene, periodontal maintenance is the key to keeping your gums healthy and preventing tooth loss and other complications. With visits every six months or as recommended by your periodontist, your periodontist can make sure that your gums are in good shape and gum disease is treated at the earliest sign.
Here’s how:
- Visual exam
Since periodontal maintenance includes imaging and a visual exam, your periodontist can get an actual full picture of your gums. Through these scans, they can check for signs of gum disease or measure the depth of the gum pockets, if any.
If they find that the pockets are deeper than 3mm, as well as bleeding and tenderness, they can recommend gum disease treatment right away. Alternatively, your periodontal maintenance appointment can also include scaling and root planing, two deep cleaning techniques that eliminate plaque and tartar buildup.
- Check bone health
Along with maintaining gum health, periodontists are also concerned with the density and health of your jawbone. Since these structures support the teeth, it’s important to make sure that your jawbone is strong, with enough volume. As part of your periodontal maintenance plan, your periodontist will monitor jawbone health. If you are currently undergoing or have been treated for periodontal disease, they will also monitor bone regeneration and make sure that recovery is on track.
- Provide advice
And finally, regular periodontal maintenance appointments are also a good time to check in with your periodontist regarding your oral hygiene habits and lifestyle habits. During your visits, they will ask you about how well you’re maintaining regular brushing and flossing, your diet, and other factors that impact periodontal health. Your periodontist will provide expert advice on your periodontal care and tips for preventing gum disease.
What to Expect During Your Periodontal Maintenance Appointments
Periodontal maintenance appointments are routine visits that allow your periodontist to ensure that your gums, tissues, and bones that support the teeth get the care they need to function optimally. It’s a specialized part of your overall oral health care routine that is aimed at preventing gum disease and other periodontal complications.
Essentially, periodontal maintenance takes a similar approach to your dental check-ups and cleanings. Here’s what your periodontist will do during your visit:
- Conduct a visual exam of your gums and jawbone
- Take images and scans of your gums and jawbone
- Deep clean the gums to remove plaque and tartar using specialized techniques such as scaling and root planing
- Further treatment planning for gum disease, gum pockets, and other periodontal concerns, if any.
Book Your Visit to Our Periodontists in Etobicoke
At Periodontal Associates, we believe that an ounce of prevention is better than the cure. Our highly skilled, knowledgeable, and friendly periodontists in Etobicoke do more than diagnose and treat gum disease and other periodontal concerns; in fact, we would like to help you prevent them.
Through regular periodontal maintenance, our periodontists in Etobicoke offer much-needed, but often overlooked periodontal health care. We’re committed to providing a seamless, pleasant, and patient-centred experience that’s proactive in preventing periodontal complications and encourages you to maintain gum-healthy habits. Whether you’ve never visited a periodontist or your dentist referred you to us, our periodontists in Etobicoke will ensure you receive the regular care you need to keep your gums healthy.
Visit Periodontal Associates today and start your journey to better gum health through regular periodontal maintenance.
