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In London, the standard of care for the treatment of gingivitis and periodontal disease includes: 1) removal of bacteria (i.e., the source of inflammation) by mechanical cleaning; 2) providing and training patients to maintain optimal oral hygiene; 3) dietary evaluation and nutritional counseling and/or supplementation; 4) maintenance and optimization of host immune defenses; and 5) the use of the best available oral health care products.
Although patients with advanced periodontal disease can be effectively treated in London, it is certainly more desirable to take precautions early on, before the damage is done. Patient motivation and compliance are major obstacles to an effective preventive program, which can be dramatically improved when high risk patients are informed about their condition. Likewise, the dental professional needs to know when to proceed more aggressively with therapy, and which patients can benefit from considering future risk or benefits in making or not making this recommendation.
Significant periodontal research has provided evidence that chronic periodontitis is treatable. However, once periodontal tissue is lost, complete restoration of these tissues are limited, and are dependent upon the specific circumstances. The majority of periodontal treatments are aimed at arresting the progression of the disease in an attempt to prevent tooth loss; it has also been shown that the majority of individuals that have sought periodontal treatment significantly reduce their risk of tooth loss. However, there are those cases of periodontitis, even if adequately treated, still continue to progress and have poor prognoses. Why do some patients have excellent outcomes, while others do not? This answer may be found in the host response to the disease, as well as the individual’s nutritional status.