Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth like a turtleneck around your neck. When you have periodontal disease, this supporting tissue and bone is destroyed, forming "pockets" around the teeth. Over time, these pockets become deeper, providing a larger space for bacteria to live. As bacteria develop around the teeth, they can accumulate and advance under the gum tissue. These deep pockets collect even more bacteria, resulting in further bone and tissue loss. Eventually, if too much bone is lost, the teeth will need to be extracted.

Dr. Miller has measured the depth of your pocket(s). A pocket reduction procedure has been recommended because you have pockets that are too deep to clean with daily at-home oral hygiene and a professional care routine. During this procedure, he folds back the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria before securing the tissue into place. In some cases, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. This allows the gum tissue to better reattach to healthy bone. Reducing pocket depth and eliminating existing bacteria are important to prevent damage caused by the progression of periodontal disease and to help you maintain a healthy smile. Eliminating bacteria alone may not be sufficient to prevent disease recurrence. Deeper pockets are more difficult for you and your dental care professional to clean, so it's important for you to reduce them. Reduced pockets and a combination of daily oral hygiene and professional maintenance care increase your chances of keeping your natural teeth – and decrease the chance of serious health problems associated with periodontal disease. Advanced Periodontal Disease Moderate Periodontal Disease Periodontal procedures are available to aid the general and cosmetic dentist to improve and restore the health and esthetics of your smile. Your dentist or Dr. Miller may also recommend crown lengthening in order to make a restorative procedure possible. If a tooth is badly worn, decayed or fractured below the gum line, crown lengthening adjusts the gum and bone levels to gain access to more of the tooth so it can be restored. Decayed tooth prior to crown lengthening.

Crown lengthening is a surgical procedure that contours the gum tissue and often the underlying bone surrounding one or more teeth so that an adequate amount of healthy tooth is exposed to allow your dentist to treat the area. It is often used for a tooth or teeth that to be fitted for crowns. . Crown lengthening exposes more of the tooth surface. This procedure provides the necessary space between the supporting bone and crown, preventing the new crown from damaging gum tissues and bone. The crown is successfully placed.