Today I am so excited that I am here with special guest, my sister and registered dental hygienist, Lauren Stanford. The question of the day is “What do I do when a perio patient asks, “Why do I need 4 cleanings in a year?” 

This is a great question that gets asked often and is so important to create value and understanding of periodontal disease for your patient. I believe it all starts at the appointment when they receive the diagnosis. At that appointment much of the time should be spent explaining to the patient what periodontal disease is and what to expect going forward. Let me give you an example of how I would handle a situation like this with my patients. Let’s pretend I have Sue in my chair you just got diagnosed with periodontal disease for the first time. This is what I would say to her:

“Sue, as you heard from your periodontal measurements you do have some areas of concern. In the upper left and lower right you have areas of 5mm which means you’ve lost bone and are unable to successfully clean out those pockets. What the bacteria has done is accumulate in those pockets and become destructive and has destroyed the bone that holds your teeth in place. This is called periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is a disease that can only be maintained, and cannot be cured. It is a disease that not only affects your teeth but also your overall health such as increasing your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, to name a few. 

So going forward, this is what we are going to do. We will start with a procedure called scaling and root planing, which will remove the bacteria, tartar and toxins below the gumline in hopes that we will shrink these pocket depths to a level that you are able to clean at home. Going forward, it is crucial that I see you every 3 months. The reason behind this is that bacteria gets destructive and does damage and can destroy more bone in 90 days. The main objective with periodontal disease is not to lose more bone, so that is why is it critical for a patient to be seen every 90 days. Another difference going forward is you will no longer be a standard cleaning, that type of cleaning only cleans the surface above the gumline and your disease has spread below. Sue, now remember I will be here every step of the way to help you get healthy. What questions can I answer for you?”

Before we go, if you liked what you heard here, you are going to LOVE Lauren’s brand new minicourse for on Mastering Your IO Camera. Right now for a limited time it is 50% off. So you’ll want to go grab that today. You can find all the details at www.bonddentalconsulting.com/minicourse . Trust me, you will not want to miss it!