If dental plaque is allowed to flourish beneath your gumline your gums may become disconnected from your teeth, creating deep pockets. Dr. Fleming can eliminate any plaque buildup through scaling, which means scraping it away with a dental tool. After that, he’ll do root planing, smoothing out the enamel at the roots of the affected teeth to remove any small crevices where bacteria can hide and multiply. Once these steps are completed your gums and teeth will be able to reattach to each other on their own.

Following gum disease treatment, Dr. Fleming will have you return for periodic periodontal maintenance appointments—typically up to four times each year. These enable him to perform further scaling and root planing to eliminate any newly formed bacteria and keep your gum disease from recurring.

When severely infected tissue doesn’t respond to gum disease treatment Dr. Fleming will generally remove the tissue. This will prevent the infection from spreading to more gum tissue and the jawbone as well as allow any pockets between the teeth and gums to close.

Your frenula are the slender pieces of tissue that connect your tongue to the floor of your mouth and your upper lip to your upper gums. If either of these is too short, it can hinder your ability to eat and speak comfortably. With a frenectomy Dr. Fleming removes these constrictive tissues to give your mouth full freedom of movement—and you a chance to fully enjoy your meals and conversations.

A tooth root infection doesn’t always lead to extraction. Instead, Dr. Fleming can remove all the living tissue (nerves and blood vessels) from inside the tooth, then thoroughly clean the canals before reinforcing the inside of the tooth using a special dental material called gutta-percha. He reinforces the tooth with a new crown so that it can continue to provide reliable function for years. We offer same-day crowns for your convenience.

If you experience ongoing popping, locking, stiffness or other discomfort in your jaw you may have a problem with your temporomandibular joints (TMJ). These are the hinges at each side of your skull that enable you to close and open your mouth. Dr. Fleming can fit you with a customized mouthguard that will relax your jaw and prevent teeth grinding, clenching and other habits that cause TMJ issues.

If you suffer from sleep apnea you don’t just snore—you stop breathing multiple times each night. This is due to your airway becoming blocked by soft tissues that have collapsed on it. Dr. Fleming can provide a mouthguard that will shift your jaw slightly forward, preventing airway obstruction, protecting your overall health, and allowing you to enjoy restful sleep and more energetic, productive days.