Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth like a turtleneck around your neck. When you have periodontal disease, this supporting tissue and bone is destroyed, forming "pockets" around the teeth.

Over time, these pockets become deeper, providing a larger space for bacteria to live. As bacteria develop around the teeth, they can accumulate and advance under the gum tissue. These deep pockets collect even more bacteria, resulting in further bone and tissue loss. Eventually, if too much bone is lost, the teeth will need to be extracted.

Your periodontist has measured the depth of your pocket(s). A pocket reduction procedure has been recommended because you have pockets that are too deep to clean with daily at-home oral hygiene and a professional care routine.

During this procedure, your periodontist folds back the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria before securing the tissue into place. In some cases, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. This allows the gum tissue to better reattach to healthy bone.

What are the benefits of this procedure?

Reducing pocket depth and eliminating existing bacteria are important to prevent damage caused by the progression of periodontal disease and to help you maintain a healthy smile. Eliminating bacteria alone may not be sufficient to prevent disease recurrence. Deeper pockets are more difficult for you and your dental care professional to clean, so it's important for you to reduce them. Reduced pockets and a combination of daily oral hygiene and professional maintenance care increase your chances of keeping your natural teeth – and decrease the chance of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease.

Periodontal procedures are available to stop further dental problems and gum recession, and/or to improve the esthetics of your gum line.

Exposed tooth roots are the result of gum recession. Perhaps you wish to enhance your smile by covering one or more of these roots that make your teeth appear too long. Or, maybe you're not bothered by the appearance of these areas, but you cringe because the exposed roots are sensitive to hot or cold foods and liquids.

Your gums may have receded for a variety of reasons, including aggressive tooth brushing or periodontal disease. You may not be in control of what caused the recession, but prior to treatment your periodontist can help you identify the factors contributing to the problem. Once these contributing factors are controlled, a soft tissue graft procedure will repair the defect and help to prevent additional recession and bone loss.

Soft tissue grafts can be used to cover roots or develop gum tissue where absent due to excessive gingival recession. During this procedure, your periodontist takes gum tissue from your palate or another donor source to cover the exposed root. This can be done for one tooth or several teeth to even your gum line and reduce sensitivity.

A frenectomy is the surgical removal of a frenum in the mouth. A frenum is a fold of tissue that passes from the movable lip or cheek to the gum. When a frenum is positioned in such a way as to interfere with the normal alignment of teeth or results in pulling away of the gum from the tooth surface causing recession, these are often removed using a surgical process known as a frenectomy.

Gingivectomy and/or gingivoplasty are those surgical procedures that are directed at correction of the soft tissue (gingiva) around the tooth. Gingival deformities (particularly enlargements) are reshaped and reduced to create normal and functional form improving the health and appearance of the tissues.

Periodontal procedures are available to lay the groundwork for restorative and cosmetic dentistry and/or to improve the esthetics of your gum line.

You may have asked your periodontist about procedures to improve a "gummy" smile because your teeth appear short. Your teeth may actually be the proper lengths, but they're covered with too much gum tissue. To correct this, your periodontist performs crown lengthening.

During this procedure, excess gum and bone tissue is reshaped to expose more of the natural tooth. This can be done to one tooth, to even your gum line, or to several teeth to expose a natural, broad smile.

Your dentist or periodontist may also recommend crown lengthening to make a restorative or cosmetic dental procedure possible. Perhaps your tooth is decayed, broken below the gum line, or has insufficient tooth structure for a restoration, such as a crown or bridge. Crown lengthening adjusts the gum and bone level to expose more of the tooth so it can be restored.

What are the benefits of this procedure?

Whether you have crown lengthening to improve function or esthetics, patients often receive the benefits of both: a beautiful new smile and improved periodontal health – your keys to smiling, eating and speaking with comfort and confidence.

Sinus augmentation, also referred to as a "sinus lift," is one of the most commonly performed bone grafting procedures for patients with bone loss in the upper jaw. The upper back jaw has traditionally been one of the most difficult areas to successfully place dental implants due to insufficient bone quantity and quality and the close proximity to the sinus. The goal of the procedure is to grow bone in the floor of the maxillary sinus above the alveolar ridge.

The entire procedure is all done from the inside of the patient’s mouth. A small flap is elevated to expose the upper jaw, and then a window is made into the sinus. The sinus is covered by a very thin membrane. This membrane is carefully elevated away, and bone graft material is packed into the newly created space. The tissue is then put back into place with sutures. The bone graft added usually requires nine months of healing before it becomes solid enough to support dental implants.

Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth like a turtleneck around your neck. When you have periodontal disease, this supporting tissue and bone is destroyed and pockets develop. Eventually, if too much bone is lost, the teeth will need to be extracted.

Your periodontist may recommend a regenerative procedure when the bone supporting your teeth has been destroyed. These procedures can reverse some of the damage by regenerating lost bone and tissue.

During this procedure, your periodontist folds back the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria. Barrier membranes, bone grafts or tissue-stimulating proteins can be used to encourage your body's natural ability to regenerate bone and tissue.

There are many options to enhance support for your teeth and to restore your bone to a healthy level. Your periodontist will discuss your best options with you.

What are the benefits of this procedure?

Eliminating existing bacteria and regenerating bone and tissue helps to reduce pocket depth and repair damage caused by the progression of periodontal disease. With a combination of daily oral hygiene and professional maintenance care, you'll increase the chances of keeping your natural teeth – and decrease the chances of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease.

The extraction of a tooth is a very common dental procedure. When necessary it is usually an uncomplicated surgery for both the patient and the periodontist performing the extraction. The teeth are in sockets which are surrounded and supported by the bone. The dental surgery done to prevent this area from collapsing is called ridge or socket preservation.

Ridge preservation is one kind of bone grafting which is a category of periodontal surgery. It involves placing a regenerative bone graft material into the one or many empty tooth sockets. This is done to rebuild the bone where extraction has left an empty weakened area. There are a number of different possible materials to use in the reconstruction of the boney ridge.

A ridge preservation surgery can serve many purposes. It is most useful in preserving the natural appearance of the front of the mouth. It is also very instrumental in providing appropriate support for dentures or dental bridge construction. It can be essential in providing sufficient bone height to support dental implants. Periodontists recognize the role of ridge preservation in providing the support for more natural, appealing and functional tooth replacement.

A dental implant is an artificial tooth root that a periodontist places into your jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. Dental implants are an ideal option for people in good general oral health who have lost a tooth or teeth due to periodontal disease, an injury, or some other reason.

While high-tech in nature, dental implants are actually more tooth-saving than traditional bridgework, since implants do not rely on neighboring teeth for support.

Dental implants are so natural-looking and feeling, you may forget you ever lost a tooth. You know that your confidence about your teeth affects how you feel about yourself, both personally and professionally. Perhaps you hide your smile because of spaces from missing teeth. Maybe your dentures don't feel secure. Perhaps you have difficulty chewing. If you are missing one or more teeth and would like to smile, speak and eat again with comfort and confidence, there is good news! Dental implants are teeth that can look and feel just like your own! Under proper conditions, such as placement by a periodontist and diligent patient maintenance, implants can last a lifetime. Long-term studies continue to show improving success rates for implants.