NotesE a s t e r n O k l a h o m a P e r i o d o n t i c s

Spring 2017

Kelly Profess ional Bui ld ing • 6565 South Yale Ave. , Ste. 1008 • Tulsa , Ok lahoma 74136 • 918.492.0737 • w w w.eoper iodont ics.com

Spring!

www.eoperiodontics.com

Eastern Oklahoma Periodontics

What a great time of year, and what a great time for Periodontics! I was talking to someone about our practice, and they wondered what three words I would use to describe it. It did not take long for me to come up with these words: Professionalism, Integrity, and Quality. If you decide to send a patient to our office, that is what you are going to get. You and your patients are also going to get to deal with a staff that is second to none. All our employees have been with us several years, and I know they know how to give your patients and your staff an excellent experience. I have said before that my practice is a three-legged stool: dental implants, gingival grafting, and the treatment of periodontal disease. We also do several other procedures, crown lengthening, cuspid exposures, etc., but the three legs of the stool are definitely the foundation. The one leg of periodontics that I have not covered as much of in my newsletter is the treatment of periodontal disease. So here it goes.

In our practice we frequently use host modulation therapy with low dose doxycycline as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. When I was in my residency at OU, it was not utilized much at all. When I went into practice with Dr. Anderson, he had used it for years, and it was seeing it in action that I began to appreciate that it can help. The script for low dose doxycycline is 20mg bid for at least three months and up to 24 months. I will tell you I have used it on patients longer than that. Low dose doxycycline is currently the only FDA approved inhibitor of the matrix metalloproteinases implicated in the plaque-induced pathologic degradation of connective tissue collagen of the peri-odontal supporting structures. That in itself is a powerful statement.

I also had a dentist recently ask me what they could do for me as a periodontist to help with their patients. I told him too often severe periodontal disease cases are referred too late. I also told him that maxillary molars especially need to be referred early. The tortuous anatomy of maxillary molars makes them especially susceptible to periodontal breakdown, and the sooner you can get the disease under control, the better.

In closing, when patients ask why I may need periodontal surgery, it really boils down to one thing. Access. Peridontal disease really never gets under control until the roots are clean. It is that simple. If the roots are covered down deep with calculus and endotoxin, the tissues are going to stay inflamed and you will never be able to get their disease under control. Calculus is tenacious, and often I liter-ally have to use fine diamonds in addition to ultrasonics to remove it. In a deep pocket, if you don’t have good access to clean it off, you are really just spinning your wheels. We treat the lion’s share of periodontal disease with non-surgical therapy, but there are times that surgery is the best option for the patient.

Professionalism, Integrity, & Quality

6565 South Yale Ave. Ste. 1008Tulsa, OK 74136

Case 1: The patient is going to undergo a full mouth rehab. Restoring this case to a cosmetic result would not be possible without gingival grafting. I only have the initial and 2-week post op photos. This case is a team effort, and work-ing as a team with the restorative dentist, we are on our way to a great result for the patient.

Case Studies

Dr. William B. Wynn, IV

Services Offered By Eastern Oklahoma Periodontics

• Implant placement • Hard and soft tissue grafting which includes implant site preparation • Cosmetic periodontics • Treatment of periodontal disease

Case 2: Growing bone is often a necessity with im-plants. People loose teeth for a reason, and often that reason results in bone loss. Here I used a GTR mem-brane, bone tacks, xenograft, and allograft to grow bone for implant placement.

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(918) 492-0737