Gum disease can strike anyone anytime. If you are noticing that you have bad breath, taste an unpleasant flavor in your mouth, or find yourself with red, bleeding or swollen gums, you may have the early stage of gum disease or periodontitis. Fortunately, this stage is highly treatable and reversible. Without treatment, however, it will worsen until your jawbone material deteriorates and you have loose or lost teeth.
This disease results as your oral bacteria infect your gum tissue as it sticks to your teeth along the gumline. While your body fights the infection, it creates substances that damage jaw bone and ligaments which keep the teeth in place. In time, gum pockets will form as the gums pull away from the teeth. The result? Loose teeth and tooth loss.
In the first stage of gum disease, deep cleaning treatments, or scaling and root planing, can remove plaque and tartar on your pearly whites. Scaling removes debris on your teeth above and below the gum line. Root planing then smooths the tooth roots so harmful bacteria can’t easily attach to them. Using this with increased at-home dental hygiene can effectively turn around this disease.
At the next stage of periodontitis, oral surgery may be required along with scaling and root planing therapy and increased daily oral hygiene. Oral surgery at this stage involves shaping your gums and regrowing the jawbone material to support teeth.
At the most severe stage of gum disease, antibiotics can fight the oral infection and oral surgery may be needed to remove loose teeth.
To avoid periodontitis from entering your smile, rely on prevention and early intervention. See your dentist every six months for cleanings and exams, brush at least twice a day and floss daily to get rid of plaque between teeth and along the gumline.
To schedule your next cleaning with our Montes Periodontics & Implant Dentistry team in Cumming, Georgia, please call us today at 770-781-3685. Our dentist, Dr. Shelly Montes is here to help you with your smile needs.