Surgical treatments

• Flap surgery/pocket reduction surgery: During this procedure, the gums are lifted back and tartar is removed. In some cases, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed. This limits the areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. The gums are then placed so that the tissue fits snugly around the tooth. Reducing the space between the gum and tooth also limits the areas where harmful bacteria can grow. The chance of serious health problems that can arise from periodontal disease is also reduced.

• Bone grafts: Bone grafting procedures use fragments of your own bone, synthetic bone, or donated bone. Grafts replace bone – and help bone regrow – in areas destroyed by periodontal disease. This restores the secure attachment of the teeth to the bone. 

• Osseous surgery: This procedure 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.  This procedure intentionally creates gum recession to decrease the periodontal pocket distance so that less bacteria can reside inside the gum pocket.

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In some patients, the non-surgical procedure of scaling and root planing is all that is needed to treat gum diseases. Surgery is needed when the tissue around your teeth is unhealthy and cannot be repaired with non-surgical options.