Leo A. Tokarczyk DDS

Gum treatment and implant treatment are covered very differently, which catches out people who assume one specialist means one benefit. Scaling and root planing for periodontal disease is usually a covered basic or major service at a percentage, and periodontal maintenance visits are typically covered on a set interval. The implant that replaces a tooth already lost to that disease often is not, or is capped so low the coverage is close to symbolic. Bone grafting sits awkwardly between the two. Before starting a staged plan, ask which codes are being submitted and in what order — sequencing covered periodontal work into one benefit year and the surgical phase into the next is a legitimate way to reduce what you pay.

Dr. Leo A. Tokarczyk practises periodontics and implant surgery at 4777 South National Avenue, south of the James River Freeway. Most of the caseload is referred in by general dentists in Springfield and the smaller Ozarks towns around it, and the practice is explicit about working alongside the referring dentist rather than taking the patient over. Two techniques define the surgical menu. The Chao Pinhole Surgical Technique treats receding gums through a small entry point, loosening the tissue and sliding it back down over the exposed root without a scalpel incision or a graft harvested from the palate. LANAP laser gum surgery removes the diseased lining of a periodontal pocket with a laser instead of laying open and suturing a flap, which usually means an easier recovery.

For the longer surgical appointments, IV sedation can be arranged. A first visit is diagnostic: full periodontal charting, pocket depth measured around every tooth, imaging, and a conservative plan that treats only what needs treating. Two honest limitations belong in that conversation. Neither the pinhole approach nor laser surgery regrows bone that has already been lost — they arrest the process and improve the tissue you still have. And outcomes depend heavily on what happens between appointments, since smoking, uncontrolled diabetes and inconsistent cleaning between teeth will undo surgical gains faster than any technique can rebuild them. Weekday hours run 8am to 5pm, and new patients are handled on a separate line from existing ones.