Periodontal disease is an infection of the periodontal area, including gum tissues, ligaments, and even bone. Infection can be caused by poor oral hygiene habits over an extended period of time. Periodontal disease may increase your risk for stroke and heart problems, and worsen existing diabetic symptoms.
Once you have periodontal disease it cannot be cured, but progression can be managed with an advanced hygiene maintenance cleaning protocol which deep cleans pockets along your gum line and root surfaces to help prevent further infection. This cleaning process is called “scaling and root planing” and it is done by a hygienist in our office.
When you brush and floss your teeth we are gently removing plaque buildup from all of the surfaces of our teeth. Plaque is a sticky substance that is often white, grey, or yellowish–it is made up of bacteria feeding upon molecules of food leftover in your mouth. When not removed regularly or properly, plaque can settle below the gum line and in between the crevasses of our teeth to fester over time. Plaque can also harden into a substance called calculus. Your routine hygiene visits in our office can help prevent periodontal disease.
Your immune system reacts to plaque like it would any infection; by swelling and sending white blood cells to the site to solve the problem. Unfortunately, this reaction is also known as gingivitis, or swelling of the gums, periodontal ligaments (“roots” of your teeth), and alveolar bone beneath. Gingivitis causes bleeding when flossing, healthy gums rarely bleed, and gradually can loosen the teeth by irritating the periodontal ligaments.
LANAP Laser
Our periodontist, Dr. Francesca Failla, uses the LANAP, or “Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure” treatment for our periodontal patients. Patients who may benefit from the LANAP suffer from: loose teeth, red, swollen, and bleeding gums, receding gum line, and/or bone loss. LANAP can be a saving grace for patients who want to save their existing teeth rather than resort to extraction. Our patients who have progressed beyond the point of more typical irrigation or root planing treatments for perio disease can benefit from LANAP treatment.
LANAP treatments are comfortable and safe. A local anesthetic is administered before a tiny laser fiber is inserted between the tooth and the gum to remove bacterial infection from the pocket. Dr. Failla will then remove plaque and tartar buildup and repeat the laser process as many times as necessary to thoroughly clean the area. Due to the highly advanced and accurate nature of laser dentistry, the LANAP process is minimally invasive, postoperative pain is rare, and healing time is greatly decreased. LANAP treatment offers the added benefit of stimulating tissue regeneration.
Extractions
In more advanced cases of periodontal disease, where LANAP and other treatments may not apply, the best way to treat infection is to completely remove the source of it. Extraction might be recommended in these situations. With our periodontal specialist onsite in our office we can provide this treatment right here at Nashua Riverfront Dentistry. No need to refer you to another office and we can coordinate care with you hygienist and Dr. Liberatore conveniently and comfortable for you!
Dental Implants
Whether you’re facing an extraction or have lost teeth because of an unexpected accident or decay, we have a permanent, restorative solution that will give you back your beautiful, natural-looking smile. An implant supports a crown that is customized to look and feel exactly like your natural teeth. Dental implants a can also be used to secure full dentures, partial dentures, or hybrid fixed prosthetics giving you a full mouth of fixed teeth. There are many types of dental implants and many ways to use dental implants to improve the look and feel of your smile and your overall quality of life. Dental implants are used to replace missing tooth roots and they are designed to last a lifetime. They are made of titanium or titanium alloy and are placed surgically in your jawbone by our periodontal surgeon, Dr. Failla, where tooth roots are needed to replace missing teeth.
At Nashua Dental Arts we have invested in technology that allows us to use 3D imaging to plan the placement of your implant digitally using software and create a surgical guide to optimize your results. Implants help retain bone in your jaw and in turn support the integrity of your facial structure.
Single-tooth replacements have a very high success rate. Because they will never decay or need root canal treatments, they are an excellent long-term investment for replacing a single missing tooth.
Multi-tooth replacements can replace three or more teeth missing in a row. Implants offer many advantages to replace missing teeth over a traditional bridge. A dental bridge fills the by connecting to natural teeth which can eventually weaken and decay. Surrounding teeth are not impacted by dental implants. Implant-supported dentures allow you to eat foods you love and smile with confidence knowing your dentures are secure. With implants to hold the dentures, we can replace entire jawlines along the top or bottom (or both) rows. These dentures lock into place so they will not shift around in the mouth or fall out during jaw movement.
