Osseous Surgery
at Premier Periodontics
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Osseous Surgery Overview
Osseous surgery, also known as pocket depth reduction, is a surgical procedure intended to restore your gums to a healthier, more natural state. Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth, creating a protective cover from bacteria. If you have periodontal disease, the supporting tissue and bone are destroyed, and this forms pockets around the teeth allowing a space for bacteria to live. As bacteria develop around the teeth, they can accumulate and advance under the gum tissue resulting in further bone and tissue loss. To reduce the need for extractions, osseous surgery may be recommended.
Reducing pocket depth and eliminating existing bacteria are important in preventing damage caused by the progression of periodontal disease and in helping you maintain a healthy smile for years to come. Deeper pockets are more difficult for you and your dental care professional to clean, so it’s important to make them as small as possible. Small pockets and a combination of daily oral hygiene and professional maintenance care increase your chances of keeping your natural teeth as well as decrease the chance of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease.
Benefits of Osseous Surgery
There are many reasons why an Osseous Surgery is beneficial to your dental health, some of those are:
- Fresher Breath: Bad breath is caused due to poor hygiene and a build up of bacteria in your mouth. When you have deep pockets between your teeth and gums that you cannot easily clean, bad breath is very common. With an Osseous Surgery removing this bacteria and deep pockets, you can expect a fresher taste in your mouth and maintain this longer with proper at home dental care of brushing and flossing regularly.
- Less Bleeding when Flossing: As the depth of the pockets between your teeth and gums grows, it becomes harder to care for your teeth. This can cause inflamed gums, leading to excessive bleeding when performing regular flossing. Osseous Surgery helps bring life back to your gums, making them healthier and reducing the pain or discomfort when caring for your teeth both at home and in the office.
- Easier to Care For: With the reduction in pocket depth achieved by an Osseous Surgery, your toothbrush at home is able to properly clean your teeth and around your gum line leading to cleaner and longer-lasting original teeth.
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Osseous Surgery Success Rates
The success rate of an Osseous Surgery ultimately comes down to how properly you care for your teeth and gums after the procedure. Because the underlying pocket depth is reduced post-procedure, you can care for your gums easier, and with less pain or discomfort making it more enjoyable to brush and floss regularly.
What’s involved in an Osseous Surgery?
The Osseous Surgery or periodontal procedure includes the following steps:
- The dentist numbs the infected region by applying anesthesia so you don’t feel anything.
- The dentist will make a small incision on the affected gum tissues. After that, they’ll pull back the gum tissue to open up the infected bone.
- Once the dentist has access to the root, they’ll clear it out and remove all the debris and deposits. The dentist will also smoothen the bone surface and reshape it.
- The gum tissue will be sutured up again so that the wound can heal.
- In some cases, it’s possible that the bacterial infection has lead to severe bone loss. If you don’t have sufficient bone to support the tooth, the dentist will have to conduct a bone grafting procedure to facilitate bone regeneration. During this procedure, the dentist will use grafting material from other parts of your body, other animals, other individuals, or synthetic materials and plant them in the affected region. This will facilitate bone regeneration and your natural bone will eventually replace the grafted bone. This will restore your bone structure to support the weakened tooth.
When to have an Osseous Surgery
A periodontist will make the recommendation to have an Osseous Surgery, typically after your regular dental care provider refers you to one.
Post Osseous Surgery Maintenance
The best ways that allow you to maintain the best dental health after your Osseous Surgery procedure so your teeth can last a lifetime are:
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a dentist-recommended toothpaste.
- Floss thoroughly between your teeth every day.
- Use an antibacterial mouthwash to rinse your mouth and get rid of all bacteria.
- Seek regular dental cleaning sessions.
