At the initial stages of periodontal disease most treatment involves scaling and root planing, which means removing plaque and calculus (tartar) from the pockets around the teeth and smoothing the roots surfaces.

In most cases of initial periodontal disease, scaling and root planing, along with an adequate oral hygiene, is all that is needed to obtain satisfactory results. More advanced cases may require surgical treatments. The goals of this treatment are to remove the calculus from the deepest pockets around the teeth, shrink the pockets, smoothen the roots and give the gums a certain shape to make keeping them clean easier, and sometimes attempt the regeneration of the lost tissues.

 The periodontist is trained to treat many varieties of periodontal disease, and sometimes to facilitate the general dentist some restorative treatment.

Whatever your treatment plan is, the final goal of the periodontist is to take you to a state of good oral health and help you maintain it.