Periodontal Therapy

Gum Disease

Gum disease affects three-fourths to ninety percent of the population. You may have gum disease and not know it until it is too late. Much of the support for your teeth is provided by the supporting bone. This bone can be negatively affected by gum disease, and this could negatively affect the longevity of your teeth.

The American Dental Association and the American Academy of Periodontology have guidelines and a standard quality of care that every dentist must adhere to. We are committed to adhering to these guidelines through our soft tissue management program. In this program, which is part of our new patient evaluation process, we measure the space between the gum and the tooth structure once a year. This is done in order to evaluate whether or not the acceptable depth between the gum line and the tooth is in excess or not. If it is in excess, gum disease may be present. Another sign of gum disease is when the gums are bleeding.

Temporal Mandibular Dysfunction (TMD)

TMD occurs when there is an unhealthy bite, usually due to an unhealthy relationship between the upper and lower jaws. What most typically occurs is that the lower jaw is usually set farther back from the upper jaw. The primary symptoms of TMD is discomfort and abnormal noises originating from the jaw.

The typical prognosis for TMD is the repositioning of the upper and lower jaws through splint therapy. Splint therapy can be divided into two phases, with the first phase being the placement of a splint between the upper and lower jaws. After wearing this splint for a period of time, phase two, or orthodontics, is started. Through orthodontics, the teeth are literally repositioned.

Both phases of this prognosis are dependent upon the severity of the patient’s TMD. If you feel that you have TMD, please come in and we can discuss both the severity of the dysfunction as well as possible prognoses.

For more information concerning TMD / TMJ treatment at our facility, please visit www.southsidecraniofacial.com