Periodontics in Monroe, MI
Gum care is a quiet part of dentistry, but it’s the part that keeps your teeth in your head for the long haul. At Frenchtown Smiles, we handle gum disease and the work that comes with it in our Monroe office, with the same two dentists you see for everything else.
Gum Care for Monroe and Woodland Beach Families
Periodontics in Monroe MI is the part of dentistry that deals with your gums and the bone underneath them. That includes early gum inflammation, deeper gum disease, the cleanings that follow treatment, and the surgical care some patients eventually need. We do this work in-house so you’re not driving to Ann Arbor or Toledo to see someone you’ve never met.
Dr. Kyle Lambert and Dr. Danevin Putrus see periodontal patients alongside their regular family and restorative schedules. If your hygienist spots bleeding, deeper pockets, or recession at a routine visit, the conversation about what to do next happens in the same chair, with the same people. No referral letter. No second waiting room.
Most of our periodontal patients live in Monroe, Woodland Beach, Frenchtown Township, Detroit Beach, Newport, and LaSalle. Some have known for years that their gums needed attention. Others find out at a six-month checkup and want to understand what’s actually going on before they agree to anything.
What Gum Disease Actually Is, in Plain English
Gum disease starts as gingivitis: inflamed gums that bleed when you brush or floss. At that stage it’s reversible with a good cleaning and better home care. We see it often, and we’ll tell you plainly if that’s all you’re dealing with.
When the inflammation goes deeper, it becomes periodontitis. The gum pulls away from the tooth, a pocket forms, and bacteria settle in where your toothbrush can’t reach. Over time the bone that holds the tooth in place starts to shrink back. Teeth get loose. Some are eventually lost. This part doesn’t reverse on its own, but it can be controlled.
We measure pocket depth at your exam with a small probe and a number, not a guess. Anything past 4 millimeters gets flagged. Past 5 or 6, we start talking about active treatment. It’s a straightforward conversation and we’ll show you the chart.
How We Treat Gum Disease at Frenchtown Smiles
For most patients, the first step is a deep cleaning called scaling and root planing. It’s done with local anesthetic, usually over one or two visits, and it clears out the hardened buildup below the gumline that a regular cleaning can’t reach.
After the deep cleaning, we move you to a periodontal maintenance schedule. That usually means cleanings every three or four months instead of every six, because the bacteria that cause gum disease start to repopulate faster once you’ve had it.
When pockets stay deep after non-surgical treatment, or when recession is severe, surgical options come into play. That can include flap surgery to access deeper roots or grafting to rebuild lost tissue. Both happen in our office.
What Your Periodontal Visit Looks Like
A periodontal evaluation starts with a full set of pocket measurements, X-rays if we don’t have recent ones, and a look at how your gums respond to gentle probing. We’re checking bleeding, recession, mobility, and bone level. It takes longer than a standard checkup, and we plan for that.
After the measurements, one of our dentists sits down with you and walks through what we found. If you have early gingivitis, the plan might be a regular cleaning and better flossing technique. If you have moderate periodontitis, we’ll lay out the scaling and root planing schedule, what the appointments feel like, and what your insurance is likely to pay.
We don’t push treatment you don’t need. If something can be watched for six months, we’ll tell you that. If it can’t, we’ll tell you that too, and we’ll explain why waiting tends to make the work bigger and more expensive later on.
Paying for Periodontal Treatment
Most dental insurance plans cover periodontal care, though the specifics vary. Scaling and root planing is usually covered under a separate benefit from regular cleanings, and periodontal maintenance often counts toward your annual cleaning allowance with some plans and not others. Our front desk handles this every day and can run the numbers for your specific plan before you commit to treatment.
We’re in-network with Delta Dental and Cigna DPPO, and we accept Healthy Kids Dental for children. We also work with most other PPO plans on an out-of-network basis.
Why Treating Gum Disease Early Is Worth It
Teeth don’t usually fall out from cavities. They fall out from gum disease. Once the bone around a tooth is gone, it doesn’t grow back on its own, and the dental work to replace what’s lost (implants, bridges, dentures) costs far more than the cleanings and maintenance that would have prevented it.
There’s a general health piece too. Untreated gum inflammation has links to heart disease, diabetes control, and pregnancy complications. We’re not going to oversell that connection, but it’s real and worth knowing.
The honest pitch is this: catching gum disease at the gingivitis stage takes one extra cleaning and a few weeks of better flossing. Catching it at the surgical stage takes months of treatment and a real financial commitment. We’d rather see you on the early end.
Get Your Gums Looked At
If it’s been a while since anyone measured your gums, or if you’ve noticed bleeding when you brush, give us a call. We’ll get you in with Dr. Lambert or Dr. Putrus and tell you straight what’s going on.