Services · Palos Hills, IL
Periodontics & Gum Disease Treatment
Periodontics is the care of the gums and the bone that supports your teeth. Left untreated, gum disease is one of the leading causes of adult tooth loss — and it's often painless in its early stages, which is exactly why regular checkups matter.
Early gum disease (gingivitis) usually shows up as redness, swelling, or bleeding when you brush — and it's typically reversible with a thorough cleaning and better home care.
More advanced gum disease (periodontitis) affects the bone underneath the gums and calls for deeper treatment, such as scaling and root planing, along with a maintenance schedule that's more frequent than a standard six-month cleaning.
We'll walk you through exactly where your gums stand, in plain language, and build a treatment plan around it — not a one-size-fits-all cleaning.
Schedule a VisitHow Gum Disease Progresses
Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults, and it is almost entirely painless until it is advanced. That combination is what makes it dangerous: by the time something hurts, bone has usually already been lost, and lost bone does not grow back.
- Gingivitis — the gums are inflamed and bleed when brushed, but the bone underneath is intact. Fully reversible with a professional clean and better home care.
- Early periodontitis — the inflammation has reached the bone and pockets have started to form between gum and tooth. Treatable, and the damage can be halted.
- Moderate to advanced periodontitis — deeper pockets, visible recession, and teeth that may loosen or drift. The goal becomes stopping the progression and keeping the teeth.
Risk rises with smoking, diabetes, certain medications, pregnancy, stress, and family history. If any of those apply to you, mention it — it changes how closely we watch.
How We Find and Measure It
At a routine exam the hygienist measures the pocket depth around each tooth with a small probe. Healthy gum sits at one to three millimetres; anything deeper means the gum has detached and bacteria have somewhere to live that a toothbrush cannot reach. Those numbers, together with X-rays showing bone level, are what tell us the stage and what treatment fits.
This is why a checkup is worth keeping even when nothing hurts. Gum disease found at four millimetres is a very different conversation from gum disease found at seven.
Treatment and Maintenance
The core treatment is scaling and root planing — a deep cleaning that goes below the gumline to remove bacterial deposits and smooth the root surfaces so the gum tissue can reattach. It's done with local anaesthetic, and it's often split across two appointments so one side of the mouth is comfortable at a time.
What follows matters as much as the treatment itself. Most patients move onto a three-month maintenance schedule rather than six-month cleanings, because the bacteria repopulate on roughly that cycle. Gum disease is managed rather than cured, and the maintenance interval is what keeps it managed. Cases that need surgical treatment or a periodontist's involvement, we refer.
Cost and Insurance
Periodontal treatment is usually billed by quadrant, so the cost depends on how much of the mouth is affected, and dental plans typically cover it at a different rate from a routine cleaning. Maintenance visits are also often covered differently from standard hygiene appointments. We accept most major plans and CareCredit, and we do not accept Medicare, Medicaid, or HMO plans. Call (708) 974-1319 with your plan details and we'll check the coverage before treatment starts.
Common Questions
Periodontics & Gum Disease Treatment — Questions Patients Ask
How do I know if I have gum disease?
The most common early signs are gums that bleed when you brush or floss, persistent bad breath, redness or swelling, and gums that look like they're pulling away from the teeth. Early gum disease is often painless, which is why it's usually found at a checkup rather than reported by the patient.
What is a deep cleaning and how is it different from a regular one?
A deep cleaning — scaling and root planing — cleans below the gumline and smooths the root surfaces so the gum can reattach. A routine cleaning works at and just under the gumline. A deep cleaning is typically done with local anesthetic and often split across two visits.
Can gum disease be reversed?
The earliest stage, gingivitis, is reversible with professional cleaning and better home care. Once bone has been lost — periodontitis — the goal shifts to stopping the progression and keeping what's there, usually with deep cleaning and more frequent maintenance visits.
What does gum treatment cost with insurance?
It depends on how many areas of the mouth are involved and what your plan covers; periodontal treatment is usually covered at a different rate than a routine cleaning. Call (708) 974-1319 with your plan details and we'll check the coverage before you commit to anything.
Still have a question? Call (708) 974-1319 or send us a message.