Bacteria
are certainly a cause of gum disease, and it is important to remove bacteria
to improve gum health. Bacteria, however, are not the direct cause of gum
and dental bone tissue damage and eventual tooth loss. Gum and bone tissue
damage are actually caused by the body’s own defense against bacterial
infection. How could this be? Well, as a natural infection-fighting mechanism,
your body sends white blood cells to the infection site. One of the functions
of the white blood cells is to release enzymes to facilitate the passage
into the gum and bone tissue. Once there, the white blood cells will destroy
the bacteria. In periodontitis, however, there is an overproduction of these
enzymes by these cells — an overproduction that results in a greater
destruction of the gum and bone tissue than the body can repair or replace.
Therefore, treatment of periodontitis involves a two-pronged approach: reduce
the bacteria in the tooth pockets (the space between the gum and tooth)
with a deep cleaning (known as scaling and root planing) of the teeth, and
reduce the activity of the enzymes released in the gum tissue with Periostat®.
Extensive studies have shown that when used with scaling and root planing,
Periostat® significantly improved the
results of this deep cleaning procedure and helped to stop progression of
the disease better than scaling and root planing alone.
|
