Scaling and Root Planing
Non surgical Planning of gum disease A non-surgical treatment is called root planning.Root planning is where the gum tissues are usually anaesthetized with anaesthetic and the dentist or hygienist will scrape the diseased tooth root until it is clean and no longer contains bacterial waste products. This is done by a long thin drill type of instrument which slides between the tooth and surrounding gum, and the turning motion, plus water and disinfectant squirted via this drill- clean out the bacteria and scrape the area around the tooth and between the tooth and the gum free of any material (infected tissue, pus, deep rooted tartar etc) that may be present.If this is done at the initial phases of gum disease, the disease can be stopped in it's tracks, and be prevented from progressing.If this is the case, the planning. Depending on how sensitive one is, this treatment can sometimes be done without anaesthetic, but if one is too sensible especially towards the outside of the teeth roots, then small injections of anaesthetic may be injected into the surrounding gum. Root planning may sometimes be enhanced with antibiotics that are taken orally or placed into the gum 'pockets'. Not all cases of gum disease will have antibiotic enhancements as a part of their root planning therapy. After root planning, the gum tissues are usually tender or sore, but not usually painful.