ARESTIN^® Therapy

Gum disease can be very generalized throughout the mouth or it can occur around single teeth in a mouth. It is important to realize that gum disease is a chronic low-grade infection. Just like an infection in any other place in your body, gum disease forces your immune system to devote precious resources to the area in an effort to rid the body of harmful pathogens. Recent studies have shown that this “immune response” is linked to other problems with general health such as heart disease. (See our page labeled “Medical/Dental issues” and click on “Heart Disease”. 

Even if you are not experiencing pain, you may still have periodontal disease. In fact, 70% of all adults over 40 have some measure of gum disease. Most have no obvious symptoms of their conditions, but a couple signs of gum disease are: bad breath or bleeding when brushing. The only way to know if you have generalized or localized (single) sights of gum disease is to visit a dental practice, every six months, where gum pockets around your teeth are routinely measured.

Arestin^® is the leading antibiotic that has been developed specifically to be placed under the gums when signs of gum disease are present. Our office recommends Arestin^® in any gum pocket that is deeper than 5 millimeters and shows signs of active gum disease such as bleeding easily when lightly probed. If you are found to have 5 or 6 millimeter gum pockets today, it is very likely that some day you may need gum surgery. Arestin^® therapy may help you to postpone the need for gum surgery for many, many years.

Arestin^® is only placed immediately following a very thorough cleaning of the pocketed areas under the gums.  Its purpose is to kill any bacteria that may have escaped removal during the deep cleaning process. It has a unique patented mechanism of slow release that keeps the antibiotic at beneficial levels in the pocket for up to 21 days.  After 3 to 4 weeks the Arestin^® microspheres, that carry and release the drug, are completely bioresorbed. When you return to the office for your next cleaning we will re-measure the pocket where the Arestin^® was placed. Arestin^® has been shown to promote re-attachment of the gums to the side of the tooth so our hope is that your gum pockets will have become much shallower (2 – 4 millimeters) and the tissues will be completely healthy (no bleeding).

In our office, we measure our patients’ gums at every visit. If we find a single area that could benefit from Arestin^®, we offer to place the medicine at that visit. It takes only 5 more minutes to a single site. The benefits are measurable and impressive. Arestin^® therapy may be the key to your being able to avoid gum surgery indefinitely.

If we find multiple areas of deep pocketing with bleeding, then we offer to reschedule the patients for a separate appointment dedicated to more extensive cleaning and Arestin^® placement. This extensive cleaning is called “Root Planing and Scaling”. You can read more about that procedure by clicking on the link for that on the left side of this page.

Following placement of Arestin^®, patients are instructed to delay brushing the treated area for 12 hours and to avoid using floss or toothpicks in the treated area for 10 days. We hope you’ll take advantage of this wonderful new tool.  As always, the team at Fiddlehead dental is striving to offer you the latest advances in the science and technology available to modern dental health.

Arestin^® cannot be given to patients who have a known allergy or sensitvity to tetracycline or minocycline.

YOU CAN LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT ARESTIN^® AT  www.arestin.com