Periodontal (Gum) Disease Therapy

To prevent tooth loss

To tell whether you have periodontitis and how severe it is, River Place Dental, may do the following.

● Review your medical history to identify any factors that could be linked to your symptoms. Examples include smoking or taking certain medicines that cause dry mouth.

● Examine your mouth to look for plaque and tartar buildup and check for easy bleeding.

● Measure how deep the pockets are between your gums and teeth by placing a tiny ruler called a dental probe between your teeth and gumline. Pockets are measured at several places in your upper and lower gums. In a healthy mouth, the pocket depth is usually between 1 and 3 millimeters (mm). Pockets deeper than 4 mm may indicate periodontitis. Pockets deeper than 5 mm cannot be cleaned well with routine care.

● Take dental X-rays to check for bone loss in areas where your dentist sees deeper pockets.

We may assign a stage and a grade to periodontitis based on how severe the disease is, the complexity of treatment, your risk factors and your health. Then a treatment plan is made.