Osseus Surgery

Osseous surgery, otherwise referred to as, gingivectomy or as pocket reduction surgery, describes a variety of surgeries that attempt to remove tartar and damaging bacteria from the roots of teeth.

Objectives of Osseous Surgery

Osseous surgery is primarily designed to revise abnormalities and eliminate pockets that have formed in the alveolar bone around the teeth. It is generally utilized to treat periodontal diseases that have advanced beyond their initial stages. If the surgery is fully successful then all of the periodontal pockets that cause disease are either reduced or eradicated. Although the procedure is technically a surgical one, most patients feel that it is less invasive than most dental surgeries.

The more specific goals of Osseous Surgery are:

To reduce bacterial spread:

Mouth bacteria can easily advance through the body and create more serious life threatening conditions. These can include respiratory and heart disease. Eliminating tartar deep in the teeth can reduce the amount of damaging bacteria and greatly reduce the risk of it spreading, preventing further complications.

To prevent bone loss:

The natural inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria can cause bone in the jaw to be lost, and it can also cause teeth to fall out. Osseous surgery aims to stop periodontal disease dead in its tracks before this becomes a problem.

To augment your smile:

Mouths with periodontal disease are not as attractive as healthy ones. Rotting teeth, ridge indentations, and brown gums can take away from your smile’s natural appeal. This can cause people to feel self conscious and lose confidence in their smile. Osseous surgery can eliminate the vast majority of the bacteria that are causing these problems. This will restore your smile to the way it once was.

To facilitate home care:

If a gum pocket is allowed to become too deep it can be extremely difficult to sufficiently clean, which can encourage even more issues to arise. Since osseous surgery diminishes the size of pockets it makes home dental care much easier and can prevent other problems before they happen.

What does osseous surgery encompass?

First a local anesthetic will be utilized to numb the area before surgery. Dr. Gabrael will then cut around the tooth to open up the affect area and separate the gum tissue from the bone. This exposes the necessary part of the tooth that is then cleaned using a drill, hand tools and scaling. This modifies the bone around the tooth, bone may be removed to improve the regular rise and fall of the bone. If the problem is serious enough bone grafting may even be necessary. Once this stage is completed the gum tissue will be put back on top of the remaining bone and sutured back to the right location. The area will then be covered with a bandage. Pain medication and mouth rinses with chlorhexidine are typically recommended after surgery.

It is not at all uncommon for bleeding or swelling to ensue after the procedure. This may be managed easily by using an ice pack on the area. If this remedy is not successful then you should contact our office. There will also need to be multiple follow up appointments to make sure that the healing process is going well and to prevent infection.