Periodontics 

You may have read or heard recently about research linking periodontal disease with heart disease, pancreatic cancer, even prostate problems and research is ongoing into the role gum disease may play in several other seemingly unrelated conditions. One thing is for sure, periodontal disease, left untreated, causes bad breath, swelling and bleeding of the gums and leads eventually to loss of the gum's attachment to the underlying bone and premature tooth loss.

At Glick Dental Associates, every new patient examination and each subsequent six month well care appointment begins with a thorough assessment of your relative periodontal health. Using a very tiny measuring device we keep track of the distance between the edge of the gum and the height of the underlying bone around each tooth. When we start to see those numbers increasing we will recommend a program of more frequent visits, medicinal oral rinses and rigorous home care to get the disease under control.

Most often periodontal disease begins as a result of the buildup of calculus (or tarter) at the neck of the tooth that provides a perfect environment for the particular type of bacteria whose toxic waste byproducts stimulate your own immune system to produce an overabundance of enzymes capable of destroying bone. Therefore, treatment consists of meticulous and through calculus removal ( a process known as scaling and root planing) and often the application of chemicals that kill the offending bacteria and block the production of the destructive enzymes.     

On occasion we encounter bone loss so severe that surgery may be required to rebuild and re-contour the devastated bone and remove perpetually swollen and permanently scarred tissues so that we can reach infected areas to clean them and restore your ability to maintain them at home. As with most most progressive diseases, early detection and regular frequent checkups are the keys to prevention.

There are periodontal procedures that are unrelated to periodontal disease, including restoring receded gum tissue with grafting or removing overgrown gum tissue with a laser, that we routinely perform at Glick Dental and which are usually covered in most major policies. Come in today for a free consultation and an assessment of your insurance coverage.