Flap surgery/pocket reduction surgery:
Involves lifting back the gums and removing the tartar. In some cases, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. The gums are then placed so that the tissue fits snugly around the tooth. This method reduces the size of the space between the gum and tooth, thereby decreasing the areas where harmful bacteria grow and decreasing the chance of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease.
Bone grafts:
Involves using fragments of your own bone, synthetic bone, or donated bone to replace bone destroyed by periodontal disease. The grafts serve as a platform for the regrowth of bone, which restores stability to teeth. New technology, called tissue engineering, encourages your own body to regenerate bone and tissue at an accelerated rate.
Soft tissue grafts:
Reinforces thin gums or fills in places where gums have receded. Grafted tissue, most often taken from the roof of the mouth, is stitched in place, adding tissue to the affected area.
Guided tissue regeneration:
Performed when the bone supporting your teeth has been destroyed, this procedure stimulates bone and gum tissue growth. Done in combination with flap surgery, a small piece of mesh-like fabric is inserted between the bone and gum tissue. This keeps the gum tissue from growing into the area where the bone should be, allowing the bone and connective tissue to regrow to better support the teeth.
Bone surgery:
Smoothes shallow craters in the bone due to moderate and advanced bone loss. Following flap surgery, the bone around the tooth is reshaped to decrease the craters. This makes it harder for bacteria to collect and grow.
Soft tissue biopsy
A soft tissue biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue to determine if it is diseased. It is used most frequently in the diagnosis of oral cancers and to identify oral lesions.
Frenectomy
A frenum (also called frenulum) is a band of tissue that connects or holds down a part of the body such as the tongue, lip, or cheeks. The band of tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth is called the lingual frenum, while the band connecting the lip to the gum in front of the teeth is called the labial frenum.
Occasionally a frenum might be exceptionally short, thick, or tight, or may extend too far down along the tongue or the gum. When a frenum is positioned in such a way as to interfere with the normal alignment of teeth or to constrict the movement of the tongue or lips, it can be excised with a very simple surgery called a frenectomy.
A frenectomy is a simple procedure, generally taking less than fifteen minutes. Using a scalpel or a laser, the surgeon will excise the frenum in question. When conducted with a laser, the surgery tends to cause very little bleeding, does not require sutures, and often results in very little post-procedure discomfort. The procedure can usually be performed using local anesthesia.
