Osseous Surgery        

is recommended when pockets are too deep to clean with daily home care and a professional care routine.        

This means the pockets are still 5 mm in depth or greater even after scaling and root planing. After administering an anesthetic, the periodontist pushes back the gum tissue and removes disease caused by bacteria and calculus. The irregular surfaces of the damaged bone may be smoothed over to limit bacteria in certain areas. This reshaping of the bone allows for the gum tissue to reattach to the tooth after healing at a lower level down the root surface thereby reducing the pocket depth and improving the health of the affected teeth. The gums are placed back over the newly shaped bone and sutured in place. Typically, no antibiotics are prescribed with over-the-counter pain medication sufficient to deal with any discomfort after your surgery.

Guided tissue regeneration surgery        

creates an environment in which the body can rebuild structures that have been lost because of disease.      

This regenerative therapy is recommended when the pattern of bone loss is more vertical in nature and creates deep crevices within the bone. Once you are comfortably numb, your periodontist gently pushes back your gums from the affected tooth (or teeth) and thoroughly cleans out the deep pockets. The holes (or defects) are filled with bone graft material and covered with a membrane, not unlike a fancy band-aid. The gums are repositioned over the affected site and sutured. Over-the-counter pain medication is usually sufficient to deal with any discomfort after your surgery. Within a year, your body will replace the grafted bone with your own new, natural bone and gum tissue effectively increasing the support for your tooth and improving its lifespan.