Debridement (dental)
| Debridement (dental) | |
|---|---|
| Intervention | |
 Teeth before (top) and after (bottom) a thorough mechanical debridement | |
| ICD-9-CM | 96.54 |
In dentistry, debridement refers to the necessary removal of plaque and calculus that have accumulated on the teeth in order to maintain oral health.[1]
Description
Done to promote oral hygiene, debridement is a dental procedure that removes plaque and calculus that have accumulated on the teeth.[1] Debridement in this case may be performed using ultrasonic instruments, which fracture the calculus, thereby facilitating its removal, as well as hand tools, including periodontal scaler and curettes. Debridement may also be performed using saline solution. .
Procedures
Full mouth ultrasonic debridement
Full mouth ultrasonic debridement (FMUD) is a treatment modality used in dentistry, specifically to treat periodontitis with an ultrasonic scaler. The rationale for FMUD is that bacterial contamination of root surfaces is limited in depth, so extensive planing away of cementum - as advocated by traditional techniques like scaling and root planing - is not necessary to allow periodontal healing and the formation of new attachment.[2] In contrast to the alternative treatment modality scaling and root planing, the aim of FMUD is to disturb the bacterial biofilm within the periodontal pocket, without removing cementum. Typically, root planing will require use of hand instruments such as specialized dental curettes instead of the scaler tips used in FMUD to debride the root surface and periodontal pocket.
The advantages of full mouth ultrasonic debridement include speed/reduced treatment time, reduced need for anaesthesia, with equivalent results to scaling and planing.