Treats bleeding, receding gums — the leading cause of adult tooth loss.
Overview
Gum disease begins as gingivitis — red, puffy gums that bleed when you brush. At that stage it is fully reversible. Left alone it becomes periodontitis, where the bone anchoring the teeth is destroyed, and that damage does not come back.
Treatment removes the plaque and hardened tartar from below the gum line so the tissue can heal. A dental laser can be used alongside conventional scaling to decontaminate the pocket and reduce bleeding during treatment.
It is worth knowing that periodontitis is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults — ahead of decay — and most people have no pain until teeth start to loosen.
Suitability
If one of these suits you better than laser gum therapy, we will say so at your consultation — including when the right answer is to do nothing for now.
Step by step
We measure the pocket depth around every tooth and X-ray the bone level. This gives an objective baseline to measure against.
Ultrasonic removal of tartar above and just below the gum line.
Under local anaesthetic, the root surfaces are cleaned within the pockets, often one quadrant at a time.
Where indicated, the laser is used within the pocket after cleaning.
We re-measure the pockets. Healing is measurable, not a matter of opinion.
Ongoing upkeep, because periodontitis is controlled rather than cured.
Benefits
Stops the bone loss that ultimately loosens teeth
Ends bleeding gums and the bad breath that comes with them
Saves teeth that would otherwise be lost
The laser reduces bleeding during treatment and can make it more comfortable
Gum health is linked to wider health — particularly diabetic control
Being straight with you
Who will treat you
MDS · MNDC (New Zealand) · MADC (Australia) · PGDAI (CIIOMFI, France) · Fellow ICOI (USA)
Dr. G. Vijay Srinivas is an Oral & Maxillofacial Pathologist and Implant Dentistry practitioner with more than 35 years of clinical experience, and the founder of AP Superspeciality Dental Hospitals.
Full profileWhere
Questions
No. Healthy gums do not bleed, any more than healthy skin bleeds when you wash it. Bleeding is the earliest sign of gum inflammation and the point at which it is still completely reversible. Most people brush around the bleeding spot instead — which makes it worse.
The laser reduces bleeding during treatment and many patients find it more comfortable, but deep cleaning is still done under local anaesthetic. We will not describe it as painless. Expect tenderness for a day or two afterwards.
Honestly, no. Gum and bone lost to periodontitis do not regenerate on their own. Treatment halts the loss and lets the remaining tissue firm up and reattach. This is precisely why catching it at the bleeding-gums stage matters so much.
Because the swelling was hiding recession that had already happened. Inflamed gums are puffed up against the teeth; once they heal and shrink, the true gum level shows. It looks like the treatment caused it, but it revealed it. We warn everyone about this beforehand.
A persistent myth, and the reason a lot of gum disease goes untreated. Scaling removes tartar, not tooth. Where teeth feel looser afterwards, it is because hardened tartar was splinting teeth whose bone support had already gone — the tartar was hiding the problem, not solving it.
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