More severe pockets between teeth and gums may not be easily treated by scaling and root planing. If you have deep pockets surrounding your teeth, we may recommend a pocket reduction procedure. This involves folding back the gum tissue, cleaning out the disease-causing bacteria and fastening the gum tissue back in place. If the bone has been damaged, we may smooth it out to eliminate places where bacteria can hide.
Serious gum disease can destroy supporting bone in your mouth. If that happens, we may recommend reversing the damage by removing bacteria and then doing a bone graft or using tissue-stimulating proteins to encourage your body to regenerate the lost bone and tissue. This can help reduce the depth of the pockets between your gums and your teeth and repair the damage you’ve experienced from gum disease.
