Your dental hygienist has tools that allow for “periodontal measurements,” in order to assess whether your gums are healthy or not. Gums are healthy when they are tight and firmly attached to the tooth. With age or lack of oral hygiene at home and with the hygienist, bacteria may saturate the tissue and inflame the gums. Thus, the tissue may begin to pull away from the tooth and open a gap. This is called a periodontal pocket. With time, food debris will be trapped in these pockets and make the gum recede from the tooth. this is the main cause for periodontal diseases.

The best way to measure your gum pockets is using a probe. Healthy gums have pockets between 1-3 millimeters (mm). When a pocket reaches 4 mm or more, it requires periodontal treatment in order to avoid the pocket growing, more inflammation or even tooth loss. The periodontal probe is the best measuring instrument. It looks like a small stick for your gyms, with black marks for each millimeter.

Periodontal pockets may be treated by Dr. Herbert Birnbaum team of hygienists. A deep cleaning using Laser Bacterial Reduction (LBR) therapy and irrigation could be combined with scaling and root planning (also called “deep cleaning”). LBR and irrigation is a very quick treatment, lasting only a few minutes.

Contact Dr. Birnbaum today at (617) 965-1400 or book your appointment for your professional dental checkup or cleaning today.