From Our
Office to Yours…
Meet Juan Carlos Arroyo, D.M.D., an accomplished Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon with over 15 years of experience in 3rd molar removals, canine exposures, and oral pathology. In the spirit of continued excellence, Dr. Arroyo joined Drs. Gallardo in December to compliment their periodontics and implant dentistry practice with oral surgery services.
This current issue of The PerioDontaLetter addresses the emerging periodontal microbiologic diagnostic tools which can provide information about the future progression or periodontitis, the identification of patients at risk and criteria for an individualized recall program.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions as we continue to seek the most advanced diagnosis and care for our mutual patients.
Microbial Testing for Periodontal Diagnosis
Periodontal probing has generally been the standard for measuring periodontal disease. Probing, however, measures previous disease progression and cannot tell us if tissue infection is currently present. To know attachment loss has actually occurred requires a depth change greater than one millimeter.
Microbial test which can assist our diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease may be able to predict increased risk of attachment loss and can indicate which causative agents are present and which have been eliminated.
In a 2014 Journal of Periodontology commentary, Niklaus Lang pointed out that “bacteria play a critical role in the etiology of periodontal disease.”
Jorgen Slots in a 2012 perio 2000 article stated that “The underlying concept of the periodontal therapy proposed here is that periodontal disease is an infectious disease caused by specific pathogenic bacteria and herpes viruses, and that a treatment that identifies and markedly reduces or arrest progression of the disease.”
The supragingival bacteria is first wiped away and the gingiva is isolated and dried.
The paper point is then placed into the media.
