It really depends on the condition and the severity of your disease. A simple professional cleaning session usually costs about the same as a hygienist or a dentist, ranging from $240 to $320. But let’s face it, you won’t be seeing a periodontist unless you have a serious problem that needs a specialist’s touch, and those procedures tend to be a bit more costly.

A deep scaling and root planning session may end up costing up to $1200, while bone and soft tissue grafts could cost about $1200 to $1500, depending on the amount of graft needed and what it will be used for. In general, a periodontist is one of the most expensive – but much needed – specialists in the dental field.

Insurance – unfortunately – doesn’t do much when it comes to specialized treatments such as periodontics, but some specialized plans could take about 25 to 40 % off your treatments, which is a huge chunk.

You could say that a periodontist is a gum disease specialist, but that will be a huge understatement as they can do much more than that. Although they are not needed on a regular basis (not like general dentists, orthodontists or implant specialists), but when their time comes, only periodontist can deal with your demands.

A dentist is capable of performing some procedures that a periodontist does, such as scaling and cleaning, along with other general dentistry procedures such as fillings, root canals and extractions. A periodontist on the other hand focuses more on specialized procedures needed to maintain and repair the supporting apparatus of the tooth known as the periodontium. These procedures include deep scaling and root planning, hard and soft tissue grafts, and gum reshaping among others.

Usually, periodontal surgeries need a lifetime of visits to the periodontist for maintenance and adjustments, and just to check if the condition has progressed or receded.

Periodontitis is diagnosed as bone loss and pocket formation starts. Pockets are diagnoses through clinical findings (where the patients starts complaining of spaces between the teeth that tend to trap food) or increased mobility of the tooth. Xrays are also needed to confirm bone loss, as well as some specialized measuring equipment to measure the depth of the pockets and the amount of bone loss, which is a key step in determining the correct course of treatment.

Most insurance does not cover specialised procedures of periodontics, but some extra plans can save up to 40% of the costs needed.  It is best to check your rebates before proceeding with any dental treatment.