When periodontal disease is left untreated, it can trigger a response from the body’s immune system, sending white blood cells to attack and destroy the affected tissues, which can include your:

• Gums
• Periodontal Ligament 
• Jawbone

That’s why we offer bone grafting service from the comfort of our Edinburg office. When periodontal disease breaks down bone tissue, it’s very possible to experience loss of teeth - and if enough bone is lost, we won’t even be able to use dental implants!

At The Lakes Family Dental, Dr. Alvarado may use one of three techniques to help perform a successful bone graft:

• Autogenous Grafts - These bone grafts are taken from the patient’s own body and typically provide the best results.
• Allografts - These grafts are taken from a deceased human donor.
• Xenografts - These are taken from other species.

After the graft is in place, the gums are stitched back into place over the treatment site. The graft will then need between six months and a year to fuse to the existing bone or be replaced by new bone growth.

Many people that need implants to make up for the effects of periodontal disease do not have enough height in their upper jaw bone to allow the implants to fuse properly.

For those, we recommend sinus lift surgery! 

This is a surgery that makes it easier to add dental implants by lifting the sinus tissues and exposing more of the jawbone. From there, a new bone will be grafted to the jawbone.

The new bone can be: 

• Autogenous
• Allogenic
• Xenograft

During a sinus lift surgery, Dr. Alvarado will follow this sequence:

1. The gum tissue is cut into
2. The tissue is raised to expose the bone
3. A small circle is cut into the bone
4. The new bone is used to fill the hole with a bone graft
5. The incision is closed

After four months to six months of allowing the new bone to merge with the existing one, we will officially place your dental implants! 

For healthy mouths, there is typically a 2-3mm pocket between your gums and the base of your teeth - but moderate to advanced periodontal disease can make these pockets much larger.

As these pockets get deeper and deeper, they can fill with more bacteria, which can wear away at your teeth, gums, and jawbone until you experience bone and tooth loss!

Osseous surgery helps get rid of the bacteria in these pockets, improving the health of your gums.

At The Lakes Family Dental, Dr. Alvarado is ready to treat you by:

• Numbing gums with local anesthesia
• Making a small incision along the gumline and folding the gums back
• Removing all bacteria underneath
• Smoothing down damaged or irregularly shaped bone
• Sewing the gums back and dressing them to control bleeding

After this procedure, there should only be a few days of recovery, as long as you follow these tips:

• Avoid smoking
• Avoid a straw until completely healed
• Stick to soft foods for a few days
• Avoid strenuous physical activity
• Change gauze regularly
• After 24 hours, rinse mouth with saltwater
• Hold an ice pack on the outside of your mouth

For anyone who has undergone bone grafting, a sinus lift, or osseous surgery, in order to keep your teeth healthy and infection-free, Dr. Alvarado may recommend periodontal maintenance therapy for you! 

This process consists of regular checkups that will evaluate the health of your gums as well as deep cleanings when necessary so we can ensure nothing disruptive has developed over time.

Anyone who happens to be in the early stages of gum disease can benefit from this form of periodontal therapy.

Scaling and root planing are, essentially, deep cleaning techniques that work to remove plaque, tartar, and bacteria and toxins from teeth and roots while reducing pocket depth by up to 3mm!

The scaling process is done by Dr. Alvarado with an ultrasonic instrument that scrapes and cleans comfortably:

• Under the gums
• Between gums
• Teeth roots

During root planing, Dr. Alvarado will clean below the gums to remove plaque and tartar, along with the calcified film covering the root of a tooth, cementum.