Normally the bone surrounding the teeth should follow the gums. Once bone recedes, it forms a pocket between the gum and bone. This pocket collects food, bacteria, plaque, and calculus resulting in further loss of bone. A deep cleaning will clean these pockets, resulting in attachment formation and slow down the process of bone loss. This procedure will reduce bad breath, give you healthier gums, less bleeding gums, and will allow you to keep your teeth for a longer period of time.
Scaling and root planing is a deep cleaning below the gumline used to treat gum disease.
Gum disease is caused by a sticky film of bacteria called plaque. Plaque is always forming on your teeth, but if they aren’t cleaned well, the bacteria in plaque can cause your gums to become inflamed. When this happens, your gums will pull away from your teeth and form spaces called pockets. Plaque then gets trapped in these pockets and cannot be removed with regular brushing. If untreated, gum disease could lead to bone and tooth loss.
If gum disease is caught early and hasn’t damaged the structures below the gum line, a professional cleaning should do. If the pockets between your gums and teeth are too deep, however, scaling and root planing may be needed.
