Periodontology

What is periodontology? Periodontology deals with preserving the periodontal apparatus and preventing it from becoming diseased. The periodontal apparatus comprises the teeth, jaw-bones, gums and the thin and sensitive connective tissues that connect them all together.

What are the diseases that need to be prevented? A range of inflammations and modifications may occur to the gums. By far, the most often disease is parodontitis. Parodontitis is a bacterial inflammation of the gums, in particular of the gingival pockets. In these pockets, bacteria destroy the connections between teeth, gums and bones. One of the major consequences is that this may lead to a recession of the gums, which, in the worst case, may lead to loss of teeth.

How can I prevent parodontitis?
The best way is undeniably to remove the bacteria from the surface of the teeth and, thereby, from the gingival pockets. The most elementary requirement for this is optimal dental hygiene and a regular check up of the gums. Professional dental cleaning also helps a lot, as it thoroughly cleans up the areas that are not easily reached with the tooth brush. Parodontitis is a treacherous disease, as it does not cause any trouble initially. Patients may feel a slight inflammation of the gums, or the gums may bleed occasionally. In most cases, you will not feel any pain. Therefore, we regularly control how deep and inflamed the gingival pockets of our patients are in order to prevent parodontitis as soon as possible.

And what if an inflammation still occurs?
In this case, we will plan an adequate therapy with you, which will help us in combating this inflammation. In most cases, public and private health insurance companies will cover the costs related to these treatments. It is, however, extremely important that patients actively follow the therapy. This means, on the one hand, that they will need to optimize their dental hygiene. On the other hand, they have to maintain regular appointments to control the disease’s evolution in order to minimize a new infestation of the bacteria on the surface of the teeth.

Unfortunately, there are only a few treatments to restore the gums to their original state. In most cases, we can stop the inflammation and, in the long term, stabilize the state of the gums.

Periodontology is a multi-faceted field of modern dentistry. Its treatments have to precisely adapt themselves to the individual patients. We remain at your disposal if you have any questions or queries in that regard.