Luckily, there are ways that gum disease can be treated without needing to turn to surgery. To find out if surgery can be avoided, a dental exam is needed. One of my goals is to avoid surgery if possible and take a non-surgical approach. Non-surgical treatments include:
Professional dental cleaning. With this your hygienist will remove plaque and calculus ( also called tartar which is hardened plaque). If you have some signs of gum disease, your dentist may recommend a professional dental cleaning more than twice a year.
Scaling and root planing. This is a deep-cleaning procedure done under a local anesthetic whereby plaque and calculus from above and below the gum line are scraped away (scaling) and rough spots on the tooth root are made smooth (planing).
Additionally, your dental professional may elect to administer an antibiotic treatment such as Arestin. Placed in the pockets between your gums and teeth, Arestin releases antibiotics over time and helps your gums heal and fight off further infection. A study published in 2001 found that patients treated with Arestin had a more favorable outcome than those only treated with only scaling and root planing.
