Minimally Invasive Dentistry

Changing Lives Though New Dental Technologies

Gum Disease Surgery - Changing Lives Though New Dental Laser Technologies

Over half of the American public suffered from gum disease, yet less then 4% yearly seek definitive treatment.  We have known for years, when present, gum (periodontal) disease, causes bleeding gums, and a full-time challenge to a patient’s overall health.

If a patient has gum disease they are more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, many different cancers, premature weight babies, in addition to bone loss around our teeth with will eventually lead to tooth loss.

Treatments for moderate to severe gum disease have generally been definitively treated with gum surgery.  In this surgery, the gum tissue is cut and rolled back, the bone reshaped, and sometimes we have attempted to add bone grafts, and sutured back together (generally without much success).

The procedure is very painful; generally leaves tooth surface exposed, leading to ugly looking long teeth and often incredible sensitivity to your teeth.

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Q & A with Dr. C - Minimally Invasive Dentistry

Q & A with Dr. Paul Coleman - Minimally Invasive Dentistry in San Diego

Since the mid-70’s, we have been able to bond tooth colored dental material or fillings to enamel.  Even when I entered dental school in 1975, we could replace a chip on a front tooth by bonding.   It works like this:  W e  first  do is place a mild acid on the tooth.  This etching process creates million of rough surfaces that we can then place a clean bonding agent, or resin which latches into the roughened enamel surface, creating a micro-mechanical adhesion.  We then place the tooth colored filling material over that resin, which bonds to the resin chemically.

Well if this process has been around so long, what improvements have you seen in the material you now use over the earlier materials?

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