Gum disease is a progressive condition that can lead to loose teeth and tooth loss.
If you’ve noticed symptoms like red, swollen gums, dental pain, or loose teeth, periodontics may be exactly what you need.
Let our team in Raleigh, NC , protect your teeth with advanced treatment options.
Periodontics is the field of dentistry that focuses on restoring and maintaining the supporting structures of the teeth: the gums and jawbone. When these tissues become diseased or compromised, your teeth are at risk of loosening or falling out completely.
Periodontal disease starts with dental plaque. Over time, plaque builds up and feeds bacteria that produce toxins that damage your gums and teeth. Unless the plaque is removed, it hardens into calculus, or tartar. Daily brushing and flossing help minimize the formation of calculus, but won’t completely prevent it.
This is one of the reasons why regular visits with your dentist are so important. Even if you are careful about cleaning your teeth and gums at home, bacterial plaque in hard-to-reach areas can cause gum disease. Therefore, a dental professional must regularly check for hidden problems and remove the hardened plaque so that your teeth and gums stay healthy.
If you notice symptoms like constant bad breath, red or swollen gums, dental sensitivity, or gums that are pulling away from the teeth, you may have gum disease. While general dentists can sometimes reverse mild gum disease, the more severe your condition, the more likely you’ll require a specialist like Dr. Thiago Morelli in Raleigh, NC. Together, you, your general dentist, and Dr. Morelli can work out the most effective schedule for your supportive periodontal care.
Treat your gum disease with Dr. Morelli, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Periodontology. With a variety of surgical and nonsurgical treatment methods available, he has exactly what you need to put gum disease behind you and move forward with improved oral health.
Save your teeth and transform the health of your mouth with periodontics. Request a consultation with Dr. Morelli or call our Raleigh, NC, dentistry practice today:
When caught in its earliest stages, gum disease can be treated without surgery. In its later stages, surgery may be necessary to restore the health of your mouth. We offer both surgical and nonsurgical treatment options, such as:
Antibiotics are often used in combination with other treatments to reduce inflammation and bacterial growth associated with gum disease.
Our dentistry practice offers scaling and root planing, a conservative treatment option for gum disease. This procedure uses dental tools to remove tartar from above and below the gumline, encouraging healthy reattachment of gum tissues to the teeth
Certain patients qualify for osseous surgery, a dentistry treatment for moderate-to-severe gum disease. This minor surgery removes the bacteria from periodontal pockets and reduces the depths of the pockets, so bacteria can no longer accumulate there.
If a patient’s gums have receded due to periodontal disease, a gum graft can reinforce them. We can take healthy tissue from another area of the mouth and transplant it to the affected area to cover exposed tooth roots.
Our periodontist can use laser therapy to eliminate infected gum tissue. Laser therapy is unique because it targets diseased tissue while leaving healthy tissue unharmed. We offer both LANAP® and LAPIP™.
If your gum disease has progressed to the point where you have missing teeth, our periodontist can place dental implants. A dentist can then place implant-supported restorations like crowns, bridges, and dentures to restore any degree of tooth loss.
One of the major reasons that North Carolina patients come to our periodontics experts is the fact that our skilled doctors use cutting-edge laser technology, like LANAP and LAPIP .
LANAP, which stands for Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure, offers many significant advantages over now-outdated periodontal care technologies. For one, LANAP is extremely safe, as the laser naturally cauterizes the treatment site and sterilizes the gum area. Compared to traditional gum surgery options, this laser results in less blood loss, swelling, pain, and more.
Dental implants have revolutionized the replacement of missing teeth. While this treatment is truly transformative, some patients will develop infection around the implants, called peri-implantitis. To better treat these patients without the need for surgical repair, our NC practice has invested in LAPIP (Laser Assisted Peri-Implant Procedure), a laser similar to LANAP but specialized for implant care.
Maintaining your periodontal health can prevent gum disease issues from spiraling and endangering your oral and overall health. It also dodges the need for more invasive – and expensive – treatments later on. Unfortunately, some patients avoid periodontal care because of concerns about cost.
To make our specialized treatments more affordable, our Raleigh practice offers monthly membership plans. We provide three different tiers of memberships, each of which offers crucial benefits you can take advantage of. As an example of what you can receive, the middle-tier plan includes biannual periodontal maintenance, X-rays, oral cancer screenings, antimicrobial treatment, and 10% off any additional treatments.
If you and at least one other family member sign up, we offer 5% of your chosen package’s total price.
“I chose Dr Morelli and his team, because of the excellent reviews his office has received. All reviews were spot on! Lovely office, friendly and caring staff and Dr. Morelli is a very impressive periodontist.”
– Lindsay Hornthal, 5-Star Google Review, 2023
After Dr. Morelli has completed the active phase of periodontal treatment, your periodontal disease will be under control. He will provide you with a personalized maintenance program to keep your gums healthy. Maintenance therapy is an ongoing program designed to prevent disease in the gum tissues and bone supporting your teeth. Your program will include:
Brushing and flossing your teeth will go a long way in preventing gum disease. Be sure to follow all guidelines given to you by Dr. Morelli to keep bacteria growth to a minimum.
Regular checkups with both your dentist and your periodontist will help keep your gum disease from progressing and recurring. Be sure to attend appointments as recommended.
Following all instructions provided by Dr. Morelli will give you an excellent chance of keeping your teeth for a lifetime.
To prevent the recurrence of periodontal disease, a major cause of tooth loss in adults, carefully and conscientiously follow Dr. Morelli’s maintenance program. Protecting your periodontal health through preventive maintenance has great benefits for you, including:
With Gum Contouring
Gum disease can cause overgrown gum tissue to develop, smothering your smile and leading to an appearance you may not be satisfied with. We effectively address this issue with gum contouring – a cosmetic treatment we can perform to reshape gums to better reveal teeth and make uneven gum lines more balanced and symmetrical.
Appointments for periodontal maintenance do not replace regular dental checkups. If your dentist detects gum disease, they may refer you to Dr. Morelli for specialized care. If Dr. Morelli detects tooth decay during a maintenance visit, you will be referred to your general dentist for treatment. While Dr. Morelli is a specialist who treats periodontal concerns, your general dentist is primarily responsible for your overall dental health.
Your dentist and Dr. Morelli will work together as a team to provide you with the best possible care. They will combine their experience to formulate a maintenance plan for you and keep each other informed about your progress. Although a periodontist may see you periodically for maintenance therapy, you will still need to regularly visit your general dentist.
The interval between your supportive periodontal care visits might be scheduled every few weeks to every six months. Everyone’s situation is different. The frequency of your supportive care visits will be influenced by your periodontal disease, the treatment you’ve received, your response to treatment, your personal commitment to your care, and other factors.
Your visit to our Raleigh, NC, periodontal office may include a discussion of any changes in your health history, examination of your mouth tissues for abnormal changes, measurement of the depth of pockets around your teeth, removal of bacterial plaque and tartar, analysis on the way your teeth fit together when you bite, and more.
Established in 2018, our practice is led by Thiago Morelli, DDS, MS. His professional affiliations and distinctions include:
Please request an appointment by contacting us online or by calling us at: (919) 510-8888
Take the next steps to better oral health. Request a consultation by contacting us online or by calling our Raleigh, NC, practice today:
