What is Periodontal Maintenance?

If you have been treated for gum disease, by scaling and root planing or with a surgical procedure, your road to recovery doesn’t end there. You will require ongoing periodontal therapy to keep the disease under control. To preserve your progress and your currently stable condition, your Saint Charles, MO dentist will recommend regularly scheduled dental visits called periodontal maintenance.

Your diagnosis and treatment for periodontal disease means that your dentist or hygienist has detected bone loss and pockets under the gums where bacterial plaque can accumulate. Your condition may also include receding gums and loose teeth. Even with the most diligent brushing and flossing, it will be difficult or impossible to access these areas without specialized professional care.

In light of your history of gum disease, you will require more frequent visits than healthy patients. Your periodontal maintenance visits may be scheduled approximately every 3, 4, or, 6 months, according to your individual needs. It is during these appointments that you will receive a deeper cleaning (5mm or more below the gumline) designed to remove plaque and tarter buildup.

Your dentist and hygienist will also provide constructive feedback about your progress and keep you informed about the areas of your mouth that will require special attention. Although damaged bone cannot be expected to regrow, these visits can promote healthier gum tissue and reduced inflammation. In time, your healthier and firmer gums should become reattached to the teeth, thereby reducing the problematic pockets to more manageable depths.

Your cooperation and compliance between appointments will be the deciding factors in terms of the success of your periodontal maintenance. It will be important that you remain focused on plaque control every day and also take steps to protect your overall health.

To schedule your initial periodontal therapy or a periodontal maintenance appointment,  call for your appointment today.