What may a periodontist do?

[Lioness]

Good afternoon.

As I have sore back bottom gums that bleed sometimes after brushing, I wonder what a periodontist may do with them if I will be referred to her?

 

[Gordon]

That's a pretty wide ranging question. Kind of depends why they're sore/bleeding.

There's a sort of classic "Periodontist" treatment pattern that goes a bit like this:

Hygiene Phase Therapy (HPT): Pocket measurement, scale/fine scale, check for contributing factors like overhanging restorations, plaque control monitoring, Oral Hygiene Instruction (OHI)

(If necessary) Surgical Phase Therapy (SPT): Pretty much anything that needs surgical treatment. You don't do this unless the HPT part has been successful.

Maintenance Phase Therapy (MPT): Reinforce OHI, check pockets/bleeding areas
Patients then stay on MPT with regular recalls or go back to HPT and so on.

So you'd go into HPT first and then onto one of the other 2...