PERIODONTICS

Preserve & Maintain Your Gums

At The Hampton Dentist, our periodontist has extensive training and experience in contemporary periodontal procedures, such as cosmetic gum reshaping, dental implants, and gum disease therapy.

PERIODONTAL SERVICES

OSSEOUS SURGERY

Osseous surgery is recommended when the bone supporting your teeth has been destroyed. It is generally prescribed in cases that have not responded to nonsurgical treatment such as scaling and root planing. Osseous surgery is a traditional procedure that eliminates gum pockets by trimming away the infected gum tissue and diseased bone. The result is a healthier environment that promotes long term maintenance and arrests the progression of periodontal disease.

CROWN LENGTHENING

Crown lengthening is a common surgical procedure performed to expose a greater amount of tooth structure for the purpose of subsequently restoring the tooth prosthetically. If the preparation of a restoration is too close to the bone, the dentist needs to expose more of the tooth. The periodontist will perform a procedure that will pull the gums away from the tooth to expose the roots of the tooth and the surrounding bone. In some cases, simply removing a little gum tissue with our laser will expose enough tooth for your dentist to place a crown or filling. However, in most cases, the periodontist will need to remove some bone from around the roots of the teeth. Once the periodontist has exposed enough tooth, a final restoration can be fabricated that will be both comfortable and biocompatible.

BONE PRESERVATION

When it comes to oral health, nothing is more fundamental than bone. Your jawbone anchors your teeth and gums. If one or more of your teeth have suffered trauma or excessive decay and must be extract, it leaves a gap between your teeth, but more importantly, it begins the process of bone atrophy at the site of the extracted tooth. If left alone, this reduction in bone mass can lead to a variety of other issues.

To counteract bone atrophy at the site of a missing tooth and prevent an adverse result, our periodontal specialist uses techniques called bone preservation and bone regeneration to maintain proper bone density in preparation for a dental implant.

Bone preservation is a minimally invasive approach conducted immediately after an extraction to maintain the bone structure under a removed tooth. It is very predictable, simple and easy, and a preferable form of bone regeneration.

Bone regeneration is the grafting of bone tissue into an implant site after significant time has passed since the removal of a tooth. Over time, the grafted bone triggers your own bone material to regenerate in the graft location. The grafted bone acts like scaffolding, holding everything in place while your own bone responds and regenerates at the site of graft.

GUM GRAFTING