Nearly half of adults over thirty carry some level of gum disease, and most do not know it. A periodontal evaluation at Annapolis Dental Center in Annapolis gives you exact numbers, real imaging, and a plan you can act on, delivered without scare tactics.
The Quiet Disease Most People Miss
Gum disease earns its reputation as a silent problem. In its early stages it rarely hurts, bleeds only when provoked, and never forces its way into your schedule with dramatic symptoms. Patients usually meet it at a cleaning years after it started, as the explanation for pockets and bone loss they had no idea was accumulating.
An evaluation changes the entire trajectory. Once your pockets, recession, and bone levels are measured and mapped, care stops being abstract and becomes specific, targeted treatment where it matters and watchful maintenance everywhere else.
- Full-mouth pocket depth charting
- Bleeding and inflammation scoring
- Recession mapping
- Bone levels reviewed on digital imaging
What the Evaluation Looks Like
About thirty minutes, all data shared with you
Health History Discussion
Diabetes, smoking, medications, and family history matter deeply for gum health, so we start there.
Full-Mouth Charting
Each tooth gets measured at six points. You will hear numbers called out as we go, and every one gets recorded.
Imaging Review
Digital X-rays show the bone under your gumline, where the evaluation either confirms health or finds what conversation alone could not.
Plain-Language Plan
We walk the numbers together, and recommend only what your data supports, in whatever order fits your life and budget.
Where the Numbers Lead
Clean bills of gum health get celebrated and scheduled for regular maintenance. Early gingivitis earns a targeted cleaning and better coaching. Deeper pockets earn gum disease treatment, often non-surgical: scaling and root planning, localized ARESTIN, laser-assisted care, and home-care upgrades including Perio Protect trays.
For gum recession, the point is to stop the cause, be it brushing trauma, grinding, or disease, before it steals more root surface.
- Clean health: maintenance at six months
- Gingivitis: cleaning plus home coaching
- Periodontitis: non-surgical first by default
- Recession: protect the root before more is lost
An Honest Look, Not a Sales Pitch
Your Numbers, Shared
Pocket depths and X-rays on screen with explanation, so the recommendation is anchored in what you can see.
Conservative-First Practice
The ladder always starts with the least invasive answer that your data actually supports.
Whole-System View
Gum health connects to diabetes, heart health, and pregnancy. We counsel across it, not past it.
Maintenance on the Plan
Smile Advantage members get two periodontal maintenance cleanings yearly, which changes the economics of perio care.