Periodontal Oral or Gum Surgery Birmingham, AL
Osseous Surgery Procedure & Recovery
Dr. Maddux Discusses Osseous Surgery Procedure & Recovery
What is
Osseous Surgery?
Osseous surgery is useful for treating periodontitis or advanced gum disease. Dr. Maddux may recommend osseous surgery if you have deep pockets around your teeth that may not have responded to other non-surgical treatments like scaling and root planing. If you have gum pockets in excess of 5mm, osseous surgery may apply. Dr. Maddux will measure the depth by carefully inserting a periodontal probe into the gum pockets around your teeth.
It’s likely that the gum tissue around affected teeth will also be red and swollen and inflamed, and it may well bleed when probed. Without treatment these teeth could be at risk of becoming loose. Osseous surgery is used to try to save teeth, and to help reduce deep pockets so it’s easier for you to keep these areas clean.
It is a surgical procedure that helps to smooth and reshape the bone in the pockets, and the idea is to create a shallow pocket that will be much harder for bacteria to colonize.
Dr. Maddux Discusses Osseous Surgery Procedure & Recovery
What Is The Procedure for Osseous Surgery?
Osseous surgery is generally carried out under local aesthetic and involves carefully lifting the gum tissue away from the area to be treated, exposing the underlying bone. This enables Dr. Maddux to see the bone and the surface of the tooth roots. Next, he will thoroughly clean the surface of the tooth roots and the exposed bone, before smoothing the treated areas.
These newly smoothed surfaces will be much healthier, and they’ll enable your gums to more easily reattach themselves to your teeth. Once these areas have been cleaned and smoothed, the gum tissue can be replaced.
It may be necessary to place a few stitches to help hold the gum tissue in position while it heals. As it heals you should notice the pockets around your teeth reduce in size.
Osseous Surgery Recovery
Afterwards Dr. Maddux may prescribe pain medication for use during the healing process, and it can be more comfortable to avoid chewing on that side of the mouth until the area settles down completely. Chlorhexidine mouth wash can help keep the surgery site clean until you are able to brush and floss in this area. The rest of your mouth should be cleaned as normal. We will need to check the surgical site around one month after the procedure. This is to ensure the healing is complete and to assess the success of surgery.
Sometimes we may use bone grafting material or guided tissue regeneration membrane to help the bone and soft tissue to repair more easily. Once the area has fully healed you might notice the teeth that were treated appear longer than before. This is due to the removal of a small amount of unhealthy gum tissue and to bone loss.
One side effect might be tooth sensitivity because the tooth roots may be exposed, and you could find food becomes impacted around the exposed roots. Tooth sensitivity may be treated with fluoride applications, although periodontal surgery may be recommended for covering up exposed tooth roots. This will help protect them against tooth decay, and gives a more aesthetic appearance.
