Periodontal Maintenance Oak Brook IL

Professional Cleaning

Maintenance or supportive periodontal therapy is an ongoing program designed to prevent periodontal disease from recurring in patients who have undergone periodontal treatment. Once you've been diagnosed with and treated for periodontal disease, Periodontal Maintenance cleanings increase your chances of keeping your natural teeth. It's your protection.

Are you aware of the basis for cleanings every 6 months?  In reality, there was no scientific basis for this interval. A Madison Avenue advertising executive created the 6-month interval for routine patient visits with a toothpaste ad in the 1950's; it had Bucky Beaver advocating that. You should brush three times a day and visit your dentist two times a year!  While it's not a bad idea to have semi-annual visits to ensure small problems stay that way, there are indications for more frequent visits for our periodontally involved patients.

Research has shown that the bacteria associated with periodontal breakdown proliferate very rapidly and overcome any healthy bacteria after approximately 90 days.  When these virulent microorganisms overgrow, this can cause breakdown of the periodontal tissues that will lead to inflammation and infection.  Therefore, waiting over the 3 months interval allows bacteria to damage the foundation for the teeth. Since it's easier and more reasonable to intercept or prevent damage than to repair it, the 3-month interval usually should be the period of time between periodontal maintenance visits.

During our maintenance visits, we start with complete periodontal charting to monitor your periodontal health and make sure infection stays under control.  We use intra pocket irrigation or laser bacterial reduction, where appropriate, in addition to ultrasonic scalers and hand scaling to assure a thorough cleaning.  Our goal is to provide a comfortable experience so we also anesthetize (numb) specific areas where needed.  Most frequently, this is done with topical anesthetic that is applied to the gum tissue.  In addition, we review oral hygiene instructions to will help to improve home dental care.

With the right teamwork, it is possible to keep your teeth for your lifetime.