Plaque and tartar on teeth make a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. This “left behind” bacteria will begin to irritate your gums and increase bleeding. These conditions can easily lead to gingivitis. If gingivitis is left untreated, the gums can become inflamed and will work its way down to the bottom of the tooth causing a periodontal pocket that encourages even more bacterial growth.
Gum disease can break down the foundation of the tooth causing them to loosen. This damage is irreversible. Fortunately, if gum disease is detected early enough, it can be stopped and conditions can improve.
Your dentist will most likely recommend periodontal therapy which includes deep cleaning or deep scaling. A regular cleaning should include scaling which is a procedure that meticulously removes contamination toxins, micro-organisms, plaque, tartar, cementum, dentin that is rough and/or permeated by calculus from around, below and under the gum line down to the bottom of the pocket. This is done to remove biofilm, calculus, and toxin down to the bottom of each periodontal pocket in order to obtain a healing response.
Deep scaling or root planing involves smoothing the root surfaces of your teeth with thin curettes so gum tissue can more firmly reattach to roots that are clean and smooth to prevent tooth loss and sensitivity problems. The procedure makes it more difficult for plaque to accumulate along the root surfaces. Because this procedure goes deeper than a regular cleaning, your mouth may be numbed. The cleaning may take two visits to complete. Depending on the extent of the disease you may need one or more sections (quadrants) of the mouth to be treated with scaling and root planing. Treatment may require one or more visits.