Specialist Periodontal Care – SG Dental And Implant Centre

Your new dental team offers a wide range of complex services

Many of you will probably be more familiar with our dental practice under the ownership of Mike Allen. Mike is still with us as an associate dentist and we are pleased to have him on board. Our new team brings many years of experience and also expertise in a number of areas, meaning that we can help you with complex dental issues.

One of our new team is Dr Sneka Gokhale (GDC no 251226), a specialist periodontist and oral implantologist. If you take a look at her profile, you will see that she has experience with a number of surgical procedures that many of you will probably not be familiar with. To help with this, we thought that we would focus today’s blog on these. We hope that you find this information useful.

Oral implantology

As some of you may have guessed, this field includes the placement of dental implants; however, it is more complex than ‘just’ the placing of them but also includes awareness of potential problems and complications that can arise following the treatment. Knowledge needed for this includes a good awareness of the anatomy of the head and neck areas. Having someone in our practice with experience in this area will improve the chances of a successful implant placement even more than before.

Flap surgery

Flap surgery may be used when periodontitis is present. As you will know, this latter stage of gum disease not only affects the gums but the roots of the tooth and surrounding tissue also. At this stage, a straightforward scale and polish procedure will not be sufficient to treat the problem. In order to clean the roots of the tooth, it may be necessary, using a local anaesthetic, to cut the gum and ‘peel’ it back in order to expose the tooth root. This can then be thoroughly cleaned before the gum is placed back into position and stitches applied. We hope that our Burton patients will look after their gums well enough, and have regular check ups, in order to avoid it reaching this stage, but if it does need this treatment, you can be sure that you are in good hands at the SG Dental and Implant Centre.

Frenectomies

This is an oral surgical procedure that is carried out to correct problems with the frenum muscle. This is located underneath the tongue and may feel like a fold of skin. It is attached to the floor of the mouth and is used to control your tongue movements. If there are problems, such as it being too tight or too short, it can cause problems with speech in some people. Such conditions are also known as ankyloglossia or ‘tongue tie’, which is where the phrase to be ‘tongue tied’ comes from.

Periodontal plastic surgery

This field usually refers to the reshaping or sculpting of the gum tissue. It is mostly used where periodontal problems have affected the gums and caused problems such as an uneven gum line, a gummy smile (where the gums grow too far up a tooth) and also where the gums have receded and exposed the root of the tooth. As you can see, this field covers both the practical and aesthetic side of dentistry. It can either cover the exposed tooth roots and prevent potentially painful problems, or alternatively, remove excess gum to provide the patient with a more ‘normal smile than before.

Mucogingival surgery

This field is sometimes known as periodontal plastic surgery and covers problems very similar to those above. It has a number of benefits including helping to reverse gum recession and helping the patient have a more attractive natural smile.

The wealth of experience in this field can only be beneficial to patients of SG Dental and Implant Centre. Naturally, we will still provide other treatments as before, from general family oral care to more complex treatments such as teeth implant placement. We look forward to meeting patients who were with the practice under its previous guise, both old and new, and we feel confident that we can help you with your oral health problems; whether they be general or aesthetic.

If you would like to talk to us about any aspect of your oral care, or if you would like to make an appointment with us, please call our Burton upon Trent dental practice and speak to one of our reception team on 01283 845345.