You need an orthopedic surgeon

It is not difficult to guess that these combinations of treatments leave the question of how to treat periodontal disease open.

Table of contents

Tasks of the orthopedic dentist
Knowledge requirements for the orthopedic dentist
Always a gum problem
What are the treatment tactics for periodontal disease?
The treatment of periodontitis leads itself ad absurdum

Tasks of the orthopedic dentist

The orthodontist deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tooth defects. In his work, the dentist uses various prosthetic options. He rebuilds a tooth if the visible part of the tooth or just the healthy root is preserved and performs treatment with orthodontic appliances.

An orthopedic dentist studies at medical school for six years. He then completes a two-year clinical residency training specializing in orthopedic dentistry. The doctor must then go through an initial recognition procedure.

A dentist who already has a residency in another field can complete retraining at a continuing education institution such as the Professional Standards Academy. In accordance with Order No. 707n of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, training is open to doctors with a specialization in dentistry or general dentistry.

The training program consists of 576 academic hours. The course lasts 3.5 months and is conducted remotely. The trainees study in their free time outside of the doctor's office in an online format.

When applying for a job as an orthopedic dentist, the doctor must provide the following documents:

Diploma of higher medical education;
residency or retraining diploma;
certificate of accreditation;
Certificate of advanced training.

A specialist who has completed specialist training in orthopedic dentistry can be retrained as a functional diagnostician or physiotherapist. Retraining in these areas is also offered by the Academy of Professional Standards.

Knowledge requirements for the orthopedic dentist

A doctor must be familiar with the legal provisions applicable to his work and the

healthcare legislation;
Norms and rules for the provision of dental services;
Basic Provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
norms of the internal order of the medical institution;
Occupational health and safety regulations and fire safety regulations.

An orthopedic dentist must have knowledge that is directly related to the activity performed:

Anatomy and physiology of the temporomandibular joint system;
abnormalities of the jaw and facial systems;
types of anesthesia;
Instrumental diagnostic methods for pathology;
Basics of maxillofacial surgery;
types of prosthetics;
Indications and contraindications for prosthetics;
apparatus, instruments and materials used in treatment;
Principles and peculiarities of prosthetic constructions;
Stages of preparing the alveolar system for treatment.

The orthopedist must be able to provide first aid and resuscitation measures in emergencies. He must also be familiar with human anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, psychology, epidemiology, disaster medicine, and valeology.

When treating patients, the orthopedic dentist often works together with other specialists. A competent dentist has knowledge in related fields: therapy, surgery and orthodontics.

Like other medical professionals, the orthopedic dentist also takes part in continuing education measures (CME). In order to qualify for the further practice of his activity, the specialist doctor must go through an accreditation procedure every five years. To qualify for the exam, the orthopedic dentist must have earned 250 ICD points during this time and compiled a portfolio of educational, professional, and scientific activities.

Always a gum problem

When a patient comes to the doctor, he complains about something. What symptoms does he have when he goes to the doctor before periodontitis is diagnosed, what bothers him?

In the truest sense of the word, patients tell the doctor: my gums are sagging, my gums are bald, my lower gums have receded. For some reason, the symptom of sagging gums automatically means that the patient has something called periodontitis.

Experienced patients, who have already heard the technical terms that have entered the terminology of doctors, put it this way: 'The tooth necks have sagged a little, the teeth have grown a little'. Statistically, most patients complain of sagging gums.

When patients come to the doctor with the problem of sagging gums, they are diagnosed with periodontal disease. Of course, he then starts the treatment. And treat – against periodontal disease.

But time passes, so does money, and the question of why the gums droop and expose the necks of the teeth, why the gums fall off, is not solved. The patient still has periodontal disease.

What are the treatment tactics for periodontal disease?

First of all, I want to say that every patient who comes to us with a diagnosis of periodontal disease needs treatment... and not from the periodontist they go to first.

When we talk about the treatment tactics of patients with a so-called periodontal disease who then come back to me, it's embarrassing to say this, but periodontal diseases have been treated up to the point of lincomycin injections into the bare gums.

Statistically, drug treatment for periodontal disease in adults almost always gets worse after antibiotics and physical therapy.

The bottom line is that the purpose of all these manipulations is completely unclear: what do the doctors want to achieve, destroy a flora or stop a destructive process in the gums? It is very difficult for me to say what the competence of a doctor who administers antibiotics for what is known as periodontitis is, but that is sheer blasphemy. Can periodontitis be cured by destroying the flora? In fact, the gums will never heal.

The treatment of periodontitis leads itself ad absurdum

We would like to draw attention to the large number of remedies and folk remedies that patients try to use to treat periodontitis on their own at home. Folk remedies include treatment of periodontitis with hydrogen peroxide and even treatment with baking soda:

And the use of different toothpastes for periodontal diseases? What are the patient's goals? The purpose of the toothpaste is prevention, not treatment. And no toothpaste will get rid of the inflammation, because with periodontal disease... it doesn't.