Osseous Surgery, gum

Osseous Surgery is a type of periodontal (gum) surgery that involves the removal and/or reshaping of the jawbone under the gum. The phrase 'gum disease' is not a technically accurate description because most of the damage occurs not in the gum but in the underlying bone; osseous means bone. Our Periodontist performs this procedure.

A simple analogy with carpeting may be used to describe the process of osseous surgery; the overlying gum is the carpet and the underlying soft matting is the bone.  Bone is frequently irregularly destroyed by the infection associated with gum disease. This irregular bone will, like a bump in the soft matting under a carpet, prevent the gum, or carpet, from laying down flat.  Reshaping the bone with osseous surgery by our Periodontist will allow the gum to lay down flat in the areas between the teeth.  

To see photographs of Osseous Surgery click on 'Dental Photos' at the top of this page and then click on 'Osseous Surgery.'  There are hundreds of photographs in this section.