Periodontal Oral or Gum Surgery in Midtown Manhattan, NYC

What is Periodontal Surgery?

Periodontal surgery is a type of surgery or procedure designed to restore functionality and form to damaged tissues surrounding and supporting the teeth. These include the gums and bone, and periodontal ligaments which are stretchy pieces of tissue holding teeth in their sockets. Dr. Navid Rahmani a periodontist, a specialist dentist who can provide treatment for periodontal disease (gum disease).

What Damage Is Caused by Periodontal Disease?

Usually, healthy gum tissue fits snugly around your teeth, but periodontal disease destroys the attachment between the gum and your teeth, creating a space or periodontal pocket, the depth of which is measured in millimeters.

When you have a periodontal evaluation at your dentist or at a periodontal dental office, special instruments are used to probe the depth of the periodontal pocket in between your tooth and gum. When periodontal tissue is regenerated and reconstructed, it helps to provide an environment that is easier to keep clean, helping to reduce the chances of reinfection.

Generally, healthy gums have a depth of no more than 3 mm, and anything above this depth can indicate the signs of periodontal disease.

The problem with periodontal pockets is that they create the ideal environment for bacteria to thrive, ultimately leading to loss of bone and periodontal ligaments around your teeth.

What Is the Aim of Periodontal Surgery?

Periodontal surgery aims to prolong the life of your natural teeth, but unlike other surgeries, it isn’t a cure. People who have a susceptibility to developing periodontal disease need to remain vigilant and periodontal surgery is just one treatment that can help. Surgery aims to help control the cause of periodontal disease which is the bacteria found in dental plaque. Treating the tissue loss and deformities created by the disease helps to eliminate pockets that could otherwise harbor disease-causing bacteria.

If your dentist or periodontist suggests surgery, it’s worth taking them seriously and asking how this will help restore gum health. It could be the treatment that helps to save your natural teeth.

Dental Gum Surgery in Midtown Manhattan, NYC

Periodontal oral surgery can be useful in treating advanced gum disease, and will generally be prescribed after or in conjunction with non-surgical treatments. It can help to reduce periodontal pockets around the teeth, and to encourage reattachment of ligaments to the teeth and sockets. Guided tissue regeneration procedures use specialized materials to stimulate the body’s ability to regenerate bone and gum tissue, repairing the damage caused by periodontal disease. Advanced periodontal disease destroys gum tissue, resulting in receding gums. Gum grafting takes healthy gum tissue from other areas of the mouth to help cover up exposed tooth root surfaces and to repair receding gums.

What Happens Before You Receive Periodontal Surgery?

Before you receive periodontal surgery, your teeth will be professionally cleaned to remove all calculus or tartar. Calculus is calcified plaque and contains bacterial toxins, and it can develop around the neck of the tooth and on any exposed tooth root surfaces. During a professional cleaning, calculus is mechanically removed in a process called scaling and root planing. Hand scaling instruments and sometimes ultrasonic or laser instruments are used to clean your teeth thoroughly.

If your periodontal pockets are quite deep, your dentist may suggest a local anesthetic to keep you comfortable during treatment. Any teeth that are loose before surgery will need to be stabilized because this will help to promote healing, increasing the efficacy of your treatment. Often, in advanced periodontal disease, the teeth can move slightly out of position as they come loose, affecting the way your teeth bite together. Your dentist will assess your bite and can decide the best way to stabilize any teeth that have moved.

After this initial periodontal therapy, your dentist will reassess the health of your gums to see how much of the bacterial infection was successfully removed. Sometimes exceptionally deep periodontal pockets can only be cleaned during surgery when they can be clearly seen by your dentist.

Things to Know Before Periodonta
l Surgery

Before you receive periodontal surgery, you need to be in reasonable general health, and your dentist will want to take a note of your complete medical history, including all over-the-counter medications and prescription medications. Some people might be unsuitable for periodontal surgery, for example, if they have uncontrolled periodontal disease, or if they smoke or drink alcohol to excess. Systemic illnesses which are poorly controlled such as diabetes or HIV/AIDS can negatively affect treatment. People with cardiovascular problems may also be unsuitable.

Current Techniques Used in Periodontal Surgery

One of the most popular and conservative treatments used today is called flap surgery, where a flap or internal opening is made in the gum, allowing the periodontist to access the periodontal tissues so all the diseased tissue can be removed. Flap surgery also enables the periodontist to gain access to and to clean root surfaces and to repair and regenerate periodontal ligaments and bone. Afterward, the tissues are closed entirely using tiny stitches to ensure the gum tissue remains in place. It’s a technique that helps to ensure more comfortable healing that is smoother and quicker.

Up until the 1980s periodontal surgery tended to concentrate on removing diseased tissue while gingival or gum grafting techniques were predictable and quite successful. Regeneration techniques were already being developed, but at that time were less predictable for regenerating the bone around the teeth and periodontal ligaments.

One major problem was preventing gum tissue from growing on the freshly cleaned tooth roots before periodontal ligament cells had a chance to reattach and grow on the tooth root surfaces. Nowadays, dentists know how to stop the gum tissue cells from growing where they aren’t needed, allowing new periodontal attachments to be regenerated. This is accomplished using a specialized barrier membrane in guided-tissue regeneration so that new tissues grow precisely where they are needed and once growth is complete, the membrane dissolves so no further surgery is required to remove it.

Another recent innovation is the use of growth factors which are molecules that help to promote wound healing. Scientists have developed the ability to manufacture specific growth factors to regenerate tissues, ensuring periodontal surgery is more predictable, and healing is uneventful.

Modern periodontal surgery is extremely sophisticated, and a periodontist can use the latest surgical procedures to regenerate and reconstruct tissues destroyed by periodontal disease. Also, these modern treatments are more comfortable for patients and are provided using a local anesthetic, or may be combined with sedation dentistry for people who feel more nervous about receiving treatment.

Afterward, it’s important to follow your periodontist’s advice and ongoing treatment plan to maintain the outcome of periodontal surgery. Your dental hygienist can also help by providing practical demonstrations on how to brush and floss effectively, and of course, regular checkups and cleanings are essential.

Periodontal Disease

Advanced periodontal disease can frequently result in tooth loss, and dental implants are an increasingly popular way to permanently replace missing teeth. Sometimes there is insufficient bone to securely place the dental implant, and it has to be increased through osseous surgery in nyc office.

Techniques such as sinus lift procedures and ridge augmentation help build up bone in areas where it is deficient, enabling successful dental implant surgery to take place. Ridge augmentation can also be used to prepare an area for a dental bridge, and can help eliminate any unsightly gaps underneath the bridge.

Cosmetic Periodontal or Gum Surgery

Some types of periodontal oral surgery are cosmetic. Dental crown lengthening procedures can be used as part of treatment for a gummy smile, while gum recontouring procedure in nyc removes excess gum tissue, exposing the correct amount of the tooth.

Oral surgery also covers wisdom teeth removal and tooth extraction. This is usually straightforward and can often be carried out using a local anaesthetic, but we realize some people appreciate a little extra help.

Sleep or Sedation Dentistry

Sleep dentistry or sedation dentistry can be very useful for helping nervous dental patients have essential dental treatments, or for times when quite a lot of treatment is necessary. Sleep dentistry can enable dentists to carry out an extensive amount of treatment during a single visit, while still you feel completely comfortable and relaxed.

If you require oral surgery, we are at Midtown Manhattan, NYC office will take the time to explain the procedure to you, and can answer any questions you may have beforehand. Afterwards, we will make sure you leave our clinic knowing how to care for the surgery site, and we will advise you of any symptoms or side-effects that you might experience. If necessary we will prescribe painkillers or antibiotics, and of course we are always here to answer any further questions or queries after treatment. All surgery is carried out using the latest techniques and materials, and we adhere to the very strictest infection control protocols to keep patients safe during treatments.