Osseous Surgery

The pocket of space between your gums and teeth should be less than 3 millimeters deep. However, if you have gum disease, the periodontal pocket may widen until you have 4 or 5 millimeter deep pockets. Having deep pockets makes the region harder to clean with simple procedures like deep dental cleaning. Furthermore, as bacteria accumulate in the deep pockets, you eventually suffer from advanced periodontitis, which can lead to severe complications, including loss of teeth.

Osseous surgery, also called pocket reduction surgery or periodontal pocket treatment, is a procedure used to remove the bacteria from the deep pockets and restore the original healthy condition of your gums. To achieve that, the dentist pulls back the infected gum flaps to remove the bacteria and the infected tissues. The dentist also treats or repairs the damaged bone structure, restoring the original health and appearance of your gum tissues.

Mild gum disease (gingivitis) is extremely common, and it’s believed that most people suffer from gingivitis at some point in their lives. If the gum disease hasn’t spread to your jawbone or connective tissues, it can be treated with simple teeth cleaning or periodontal laser treatment.

However, if left untreated, the bacterial infection continues spreading until it damages the underlying bone structure and expands the periodontal pockets to 5 millimeters or more. As periodontitis continues, it leads to a complete gum recession, which can eventually lead to loss of a tooth.

Once the bacterial infection reaches your jawbone structure and connective tissues, you must opt for osseous surgery. Also called periodontal pocket treatment, it reduces the periodontal space in your gums, kills the bacteria, treats the infected bone tissues, and repairs damage caused by periodontitis. As such, you need osseous surgery as a last resort against tooth loss.

• Before the periodontal pocket treatment, the dentist will give you a local anesthetic to numb sensation.
• The dentist will make an incision along the gumline and pull back the gingival flaps to reveal the periodontal pocket and bacteria.
• The dentist will smoothen the damaged bone structures and remove the infected gum and bone tissues.
• If you’ve lost considerable bone and gum tissues, the dentist may recommend guided bone tissue regeneration. In that case, the dentist will plant bone graft materials or tissue membrane into the gum flaps to regrow lost gum and bone tissues.
• The dentist will sew your gums back and cover them with a dressing.