What is ARESTIN?
If you suffer from periodontitis (a serious type of gum disease), you need to treat the disease right away. After all, periodontitis doesn’t just destroy the soft tissue in your gums. It actually destroys the bones that support the teeth, which can lead to tooth loss, as well as more serious conditions like heart disease and stroke. The most common first treatment step for periodontitis today is a scaling and root planing procedure (SRP) followed by an ARESTIN treatment.
This may sound scary for the average dental patient, but both scaling and root planing and ARESTIN are simple treatments that can go a long way in helping you heal. An SRP procedure essentially consists of a much more thorough cleaning than you would usually get on a routine visit to the dentist. In addition to scaling, where the dentist or dental hygienist removes plaque from the teeth, the dentist or hygienist performs a root planing, where they will smooth the roots of your teeth, removing embedded bacteria and making a surface where microorganisms will be unlikely to settle in the future. Your mouth will be numbed, so you won’t feel a thing.
The second step is ARESTIN. ARESTIN is an antibiotic powder that kills the bacteria that causes periodontitis. Your dentist or dental hygienist will apply ARESTIN directly to infected pockets of gum tissue discovered during the procedure. ARESTIN ensures that harmful bacteria die and that the infection doesn’t recur as you heal.
How does ARESTIN work?
ARESTIN works much like any other antibiotic. It kills harmful microorganisms and embedded diseases. Specifically, ARESTIN powder contains tiny bead-like microspheres of minocycline, a powerful tetracycline antibiotic. The microspheres deliver the treatment slowly over time, which means that a single ARESTIN treatment can protect you for up to 21 days after your SRP. By the time ARESTIN wears off, you should be fully recovered and able to avoid a recurrence of periodontitis with proper oral hygiene, including regular brushing and flossing.
If you have periodontitis, talk to Drs. Barbara and Katie Bell and our dental hygienists about whether or not ARESTIN may be able to help you recover. While SRP provides a great way to prevent periodontitis from recurring, ARESTIN makes your full recovery much more likely, providing you better health outcomes and peace of mind.
