Your Gum Health Matters
If you’re struggling with gum disease, our team at Oak Tree Dental provides comprehensive gum care to keep your smile strong. We use the latest technology including soft tissue lasers to make your care more comfortable, efficient, and predictable. We can also connect you with an expert periodontist near Sebastopol for advanced treatments to ensure your smile always gets the best possible care.
Gums help support your teeth and protect the bone beneath. Healthy gum tissue acts as a natural barrier, sealing out bacteria that can cause infection and bone loss. Unfortunately, gum problems can develop for many reasons, including your genetics, medical conditions, certain medications, or gum disease. Left untreated, these issues can progress and damage the ligaments and bone sockets that hold the teeth in place, making gum disease one of the main causes of tooth loss. That’s why routine dental visits are so important for early diagnosis and effective treatment.
Laser-Assisted Periodontal Care
At Oaktree Dental, we incorporate laser dentistry whenever possible, including many of our gum treatments. Dental lasers allow us to treat affected areas with incredible precision while minimizing discomfort, bleeding, and swelling.
Laser technology also helps sterilize and seal the area as we treat it, which reduces the risk of infection and speeds up healing without scalpels or stitches. Whether we’re performing a deep cleaning or reshaping your gumline, you’ll always get the most gentle and effective possible care with our team.
Our Periodontal Treatment Options
Every patient is different, and your gum health deserves a personalized approach. At Oaktree Dental, we offer several effective treatments in-house and collaborate with experienced periodontists near Sebastopol when advanced care is needed.
Scaling and Root Planing (Deep Cleaning)
Also called periodontal therapy or “deep cleaning,” scaling and root planing is often the first step in reversing gum disease. This is a specialized treatment that completely removes bacteria and hardened deposits (tartar) above and below the gum line.
By eliminating the source of infection, this deep cleaning allows your gums to heal and reattach to your teeth. Many patients see significant improvement from this treatment alone. If more care is needed, we’ll refer you to a trusted periodontist near Sebastopol.
Gingivectomy
Braces, chronic gingivitis, and certain medications can cause the gums to become overgrown. Enlarged and inflamed gum tissue creates a trap where more bacteria and food particles can build up, further irritating the gums and making the problem worse.
A gingivectomy removes the excess tissue to restore a healthy, even gumline.
Laser-assisted gingivectomy procedures are typically quicker, less painful, and require less recovery time than traditional methods. They also help limit bacteria during the procedure, supporting better healing.
Frenectomy
Frena are bands of tissue that connect the lips and cheeks to the gums and connect the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. Tight or short frena can interfere with normal speech, chewing, or tooth alignment.
A laser frenectomy gently releases the tissue, improving function and reducing the risk of issues like gaps between the teeth and gum recession. It’s a quick, minimally invasive procedure with little to no downtime, often recommended for small children or during orthodontic treatment to help close front tooth gaps.
Crown Lengthening
Crown lengthening reshapes gum tissue and sometimes the underlying bone to reveal more of a tooth’s surface. This procedure may be used to improve a “gummy” smile as part of a cosmetic dentistry smile makeover, or prepare a tooth for a crown or filling when there’s not enough visible structure to support it.
Laser dentistry allows us to perform crown lengthening with improved accuracy and patient comfort. Healing is faster, and the results are often more predictable. If your crown lengthening needs a specialist’s care, we can connect you with a periodontist near Sebastopol before completing your restorations here at Oaktree Dental.
When to See a Periodontist Near Sebastopol
Our team has the training and experience to provide care for most gum issues right here at Oaktree Dental. In addition to the treatments above, we can rebuild lost bone volume with grafts and ridge augmentation and even place dental implants to replace lost teeth. However, there are a few cases when seeing a periodontist near you might be the best choice for your health, which is always our top priority.
We may refer you to a trusted periodontist if you have:
- Advanced gum disease that would be better addressed with LANAP or osseous surgery
- Loose teeth due to periodontal issues that we’re not equipped to handle in our office.
- Gum recession that needs grafting.
- Complex dental implant needs.
If you’re struggling with advanced periodontal disease or specific issues and you’re not sure where to turn, don’t worry. We’ll start with a gentle and thorough evaluation and guide you every step of the way, even if that means helping to connect you with a periodontist in the Sebastopol area or elsewhere in Sonoma County.
Protect Your Complete Smile with Periodontal Care in Sebastopol
Gum disease doesn’t just affect your smile. It’s linked to serious health conditions like diabetes, pancreatic cancer, arthritis, and heart disease among many others. That’s why it’s important to get gum disease treatment early and maintain your gum health over time.
At Oaktree Dental, we offer personalized, minimally invasive care for all stages of gum disease. With the help of advanced laser technology and partnerships with top periodontists near Sebastopol, we’re here to protect your smile and your overall wellness.
Contact us today to schedule your consultation and learn how laser gum treatments can benefit you!
