Innovative treatment for periodontal disease in Bloomington IL

Your mouth is an amazing ecosystem where your oral tissues live in balanced harmony with millions of bacteria. However, when this balance is broken, those bacteria declare war on your mouth, resulting in periodontal (gum) disease. This condition is an infection and inflammation of the tissues supporting and surrounding your teeth. Gum disease is caused by undisturbed plaque, a sticky, colorless biofilm comprised of bacteria, particles, and mucus that is constantly forming on our teeth.

Harmful bacteria concentrate in plaque when it is not regularly removed by brushing, flossing, and regular visits to your dentist. The bacteria rich plaque grows down into the pockets between your teeth and gums where it is even harder to remove. When it is not removed regularly, the plaque hardens and turns into tartar (calculus), which cannot be removed by brushing and flossing.

Dr. Mike Milligan and the talented team at Eastland Dental offer an innovative approach, called Perio Protect, for battling this disease causing biofilm. Perio Protect is a comprehensive system, which is customized for each patient. The focus of the Perio Protect system is to manage this biofilm in a minimally invasive way.

It is comprised of a combination of treatments; chemical debriding (removal) is used in conjunction with traditional removal methods. Scaling and root planing are effective at removing the plaque and tartar and reducing the bacteria. However, bacteria regenerate quickly, so the biofilm is hard to manage between dental visits.

Perio Protect provides custom crafted dental trays, which are filled with a dentist prescribed solution and placed over the teeth for a few minutes each day to deliver the medication to the periodontal pockets in your gums. Research has found that placing the antibiofilm solution in the pockets reduced the population of bacteria, decreased bleeding, and reduced the depth of the periodontal pockets.

The cost of this treatment varies, depending on the needs of the individual patient, but they are very small compared to the toll periodontal disease takes on oral health. Additionally studies have found a link between periodontal disease and other major health conditions such as diabetes, respiratory disease, strokes, heart disease, and preterm or low birth weight babies, just to name a few.

If you want to protect your oral and overall health with this exciting method of eliminating gum disease, call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Mike Milligan and the superb team at Eastland Dental today.