Periodontists are experts in maintaining periodontal health. Are there enough referrals to periodontists?

Periodontal disease and periodontists

Periodontal disease is one of the most common issues among other health care problems. In addition, the toughest task for a dental surgeon is to refer a patient to a specialist, especially a periodontist, at the right moment. A periodontist is a person who specializes in preventing, properly diagnosing and curing infections and diseases related to the soft tissues of the oral cavity. Other than periodontium, periodontists deal with a lot of cosmetic procedures and dental implants too. Moreover, periodontists will perform a simple scaling to root planning and even a flap surgery depending on the level of gingival recession from the neck of the tooth. Periodontists are experts in implant selection and placement too.

Referral to periodontists

A good dentist should identify to whom and when he should refer to the periodontist. So, the simplest way to refer a patient to the periodontist is to categorize the patients. Whether they should be treated by a simple dental surgeon or referred to a periodontist. Bleeding gums or halitosis are the initial signs of any gingival or periodontal disease. However, any patient whose periodontal status worsens even after scaling and root planning should be referred to the periodontist. The dental surgeon should refer the following patients to the periodontist, i.e. with

The pocket depth is more than 5mm
Generalized mobile teeth
Aggressive gingival recession
Juvenile or early-onset or chronic aggressive periodontitis
Angular or vertical bony defects
Bad breath and root furcation (i-e., through and through) involvement.

Save your teeth!

So, a person who wants to be healthy should have a healthy mouth. The status of a healthy mouth depends upon the health of teeth and soft tissues. A person will eat properly when his teeth and other supporting structures of teeth are in good condition. However, the oral cavity is the only opening for food intake and a direct gateway to the stomach. So, every periodontist should try their level best to save the tooth strong in the oral cavity.