Dr. Eric Buck & Associates
Scaling & Root Planing
Scaling and root planing are collectively referred to as a deep cleaning. As the name suggests, it’s a lot more thorough than the standard cleaning that you receive during your biannual checkups. The scaling process involves removing the plaque and tartar deposits that have formed around the gumline. Afterwards, root planing is performed to remove the rough surfaces from the teeth’s roots so that bacteria are less likely to gather in the future.
Antibiotic Therapy
Oral bacteria are persistent; some of them could still remain even after a thorough cleaning. That is why antibiotic therapy is often part of periodontal treatment. We use a topical antibiotic called Arestin that consists of thousands of microspheres filled with antimicrobial medications. The microspheres will slowly dissolve over the course of a few days, releasing the medicine and giving it a chance to seep into the gums and kill bacteria that can be hard to reach.