Periodontal Surgery

Cascadia Dental offers a range of general periodontal services. Periodontics is a type of dentistry that revolves around areas near the tooth, such as the gums, bones, and supporting ligaments. Our periodontists are trained to help you avoid gum disease and achieve optimal oral health and a beautiful smile through regular visits.

Periodontal disease is an ongoing gum infection that affects up to 50% of adults, and can result in tooth loss, the need for surgery, and an array of future health problems. Periodontal disease can be divided into stages.

This is the first stage of periodontal disease and can be reversed with proper care. Gingivitis is a result of plaque build up around the teeth and can be diagnosed by your normal dentist. Regular checkups and consistently positive oral hygiene practices can reverse this stage.

The second stage of periodontal disease is not reversible but is still manageable. This is when the infection and bacteria spreads to the bone and is more aggressive. You’ll notice more swelling of the gums and bleeding during flossing and brushing.

Moderate periodontal disease has the same symptoms as slight periodontal disease only at more of an effect. Bacteria now not only can attack your bones but your immune system as well. Deep cleaning can help manage and remove the deposits of bacteria, but left untreated this stage can result in bone and tooth loss.

The final stage of periodontal disease makes you at up to a 90% risk of bone less because of the aggressiveness at which the bacteria is attacking your teeth, gums, and bone. Advanced periodontal disease causes red, swollen, bleeding gums, painful chewing, and the potential for tooth or bone loss and gum recession.

This procedure involves lifting and folding back the gums in order for our specialists to reach the root of the tooth and bone in the infected area. Our specialists remove the inflamed tissue and perform a scaling and root planing (deep cleaning) of the area to rid the “pockets” of bacteria. They then replace the gums and stitch them back in place using sutures that typically dissolve within 10 or so days.

Osseous surgery is a noninvasive periodontal surgery that decreases infected gum pockets by trimming away infected tissue and infected bone, creating a cleaner, healthier environment for healthy tissue to reattach. This surgery is usually suggested if an infected area does not respond to deep cleaning procedures.

Bone grafts help build new bone and repair damage from gum disease and can also help reconstruct the area around infected teeth or an extraction site. Autograft uses your own bone from your jaw, allograft uses donor bone, xenograft uses animal bone, and alloplastic grafting uses synthetic material. Cascadia Dental Specialists offer all of these types of bone grafting.