Gum infections are treated by a Periodontist, a specialist in the field of gum disease. Bad breath, inflamed and/or bleeding gums and bad tastes in the mouth can all be caused by bacterial infections which can be treated with Periodontics (Gum Therapy). Before and after photos on periodontal gum disease treatment for bad breath performed in our Gum Disease Treatment office.
Many people are under the impression that dental cleanings are the same regardless of what type of office you are in, however this is not necessarily the case. In reality, high volume insurance offices vary greatly from Premium offices. The skills of individual hygienists differ as much as the skills of dentists. High volume offices will generally give patients only 15 – 30 minute visits, while Premium practices will usually schedule patients for an hour. It is critical to have enough time allotted to sterilize the room between patients. If a cleaning is done poorly, bacteria could be left behind. The resulting tooth decay and gum disease may go unnoticed by the naked eye but cause severe problems in the years to come. Most dentists fail to correctly diagnosis gum disease so it is very important to have a Periodontist available for early diagnosis.
The need for gum surgery can be greatly reduced in a top traditional periodontal practice through early diagnosis of infection, early preventive measures, and bacterial cultures (tests) with species-specific antibiotic treatment. Our office sends cultures to the Oral Microbiology Testing Lab at Temple University School of Dentistry. We are rare in using this service, but after reading the content on the National Institute of Health’s U.S. Government website, www.NIH.com the reader will agree that it should be used when needed as the results can be significant. The preventive measures mentioned above should greatly minimize the number of teeth that are involved in gum surgery; if any is still needed.
Recently, there have been discussions in the press of a link between gum disease and cardiovascular (heart), as well as other, diseases. This is one of the reasons we have collected bacterial cultures of our patients for the last 23 years. The existence of any bacterial infections can be detrimental to the health of your body, not just the health of your mouth. To obtain a scientific opinion on “periodontal and cardiovascular disease” you can refer to the NIH website. In our practice, patients who exhibit significant periodontal disease are advised to receive an examination by an internist and/or a cardiologist.
–Dr. Jeffrey Dorfman, Director
The Center for Special Dentistry