Scaling & Root Planning
Upon reviewing your periodontal charting, if you have deep pockets, bleeding/inflamed gums, and/or heavy calculus (tartar) buildup, your hygienist may recommend gum treatment. Periodontal Scaling and Root Planing is a conservative cleaning procedure meant to remove contamination and infection from beneath the gum. Scaling removes deposits of bacterial plaque, calculus, food debris, and pus that have accumulated in the infect pocket due to periodontitis.
Root planing smoothes and cleans the root of the tooth so that the gum tissue may heal next to the tooth. Scaling and root planing is usually performed in one section of the mouth at a time using local anesthesia for your comfort. This non-surgical treatment is often effective in allowing complete healing of early stages of periodontitis and may reduce the extent of surgical treatment needed when performed in more advanced stages of gum disease. Following gum treatments, your hygienist and dentist may recommend periodontal maintenance appointments to be scheduled every 3 to 4 months.