Periodontal or gum disease happens when bacteria gets below the gum line and the attachment between the gum and tooth is lost. Three out of four Americans have some form of periodontal disease and only three out of 100 will ever get treated before it’s too late.
Gum disease is a silent, chronic, painless, and communicable bacterial infection that often goes undetected or ignored until severe gum and bone destruction is unbearable and no longer able to be ignored. Left untreated gum disease can cause tooth loss and traditional treatment can be painful.
The latest conservative gum therapy uses a laser. The laser gently disinfects and evaporates diseased tissues from around the tooth and inside the gum pocket. This treatment interrupts the bacterial destruction of the tissues and bone, giving the gum pocket a chance to heal. Systematic repeated visits, generally two to eight, allow the gum pocket to be disease-free and sometimes allow tissues to reattach to the pocket back to a normal or near-normal depth. This new laser therapy is gentle, less painful and has a quicker recovery. While surgery may still be indicated for severely advanced periodontal cases, laser therapy is a much more conservative, effective, and comfortable option for beginning to moderate periodontal cases.