Today at Clínica Peydro we want to share a case you may well recognize yourself in. It is an adult patient who had advanced periodontal disease that was causing her problems with both her health and the look of her smile, because of the bone loss around her teeth.
Periodontitis is a bacterial disease that affects the tissue surrounding the tooth, both the supporting bone and the gum, and which, if left untreated, ends in the loss of every tooth.
What are the effects of periodontal disease?
The effects of the disease show up over the long term and increase as the years go by, which is why it is so important to see the dentist at least twice a year. The symptoms that appear over the course of the disease are these:
- Bone loss
- Gum recession
- Teeth that look longer
- Gaps appearing between the teeth
- Progressive tooth mobility
- Tooth loss, when bone loss is very advanced
- Flaring of the teeth: bone loss means the teeth gradually lose their support, causing them to move forwards and outwards.
The patient’s treatment at Clínica Peydro
Once we had confirmed that she had periodontal disease, Dr. Diego Peydro and Dr. Marta Peydro joined forces to carry out multidisciplinary treatment aimed at improving the patient’s dental health and the appearance of her smile.
In the case we are presenting here, the patient had periodontal disease at an advanced stage. In photograph 2 you can clearly see that she has every one of the symptoms listed at the start of the article.
In photograph 3 we can clearly see how the esthetic impact is obvious because of the periodontal disease she has. The teeth are triangular in shape because of the bone loss, and there are black gaps between them. That left the patient with an unnatural smile, since she was ashamed of her teeth and tried to hide them.
On detecting this, Dr. Diego and Dr. Marta Peydro planned a treatment aimed at giving the patient back her smile and her self-confidence.
The treatment in this case was planned in several stages, so as to deal with her problems one after another:
Treating the periodontal disease
Photograph 1 clearly shows that the patient has severe periodontitis. Before any other kind of treatment, the doctors’ priority was eliminating the bacteria causing the periodontal disease with scaling and root planing, as well as giving the patient oral hygiene instructions on using interdental brushes to clean, after brushing, the black gaps that bone loss creates between the teeth. After this active stage of treatment, the patient moves on to lifelong periodontal maintenance, since this is a chronic disease, so a periodontal maintenance protocol was set up every 4 months to keep the disease under control and stop it flaring up again.
At Clínica Peydro we specialize in clear aligners, dental implants and esthetic dentistry
If you would like a free first visit with us, leave us your details.
Orthodontic treatment
Periodontitis causes the flaring effect (teeth moving forwards and outwards) we mentioned earlier. That effect is in fact the teeth drifting out of the bone. That is why an essential stage of periodontal treatment is to follow it with Invisalign clear aligner treatment, aimed at bringing the teeth back into place and improving their relationship with the surrounding bone, so that they are better supported.
Esthetic dentistry treatment
Once the periodontitis was resolved and the tooth position corrected, Dr. Marta Peydro decided to use two esthetic dentistry techniques: whitening and dental veneers.
First the doctor carried out professional teeth whitening on the patient, combining an in-practice session with very high concentration hydrogen peroxide and at-home whitening with custom trays and carbamide peroxide.
Once that stage was over, the teeth were rebuilt to improve their appearance with porcelain veneers on the 4 lower incisors and on the two upper lateral incisors, combined with composite veneers on the upper central incisors.
Finally, after all the treatment carried out, the patient achieved a perfect fit between her teeth, natural lip movement, a corrected gummy smile and a radiant, bright smile.
For her, the best part of the treatment has been the final result and being able to smile as never before, without fear. For us, the best part has been giving her back her health along with a perfect, bright smile.
