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Gum Disease Treatment

Lansdowne Dental Care
“We change lives by creating beautiful, healthy smiles”

Award Winning Cosmetic Dentistry In Leesburg, VA

Find us at 19465 Deerfield Ave #406 Leesburg, VA 20176

Regular Periodontal Treatments For Lasting Oral Health

Periodontal gum disease affects nearly half of Americans that are over the age of 30. In most cases, this type of gum disease, specifically at an early stage, and can likely be reversed by visiting the dentist. This condition is extremely common. However, if it is left untreated, it will often lead to tooth loss and other bacterial infections in the mouth. However, these cases may be extreme; there are ways and options available to successfully treat advanced Periodontal disease. Do not fear, as an advanced gum disease treatment is available and the need to extract teeth may not be necessary.

2 Different Gum Disease Treatments

As mentioned above, the treatment options will vary depending on the severity of the advancement of your form of gum disease. The dental professional will always do a grave evaluation to decide just how far your level of gum disease is. There are surgical and nonsurgical treatment options available to those with any level of gum disease. The first step is to always get control of the disease and ensure the spread of bacteria is cut off immediately.

Nonsurgical Gum Disease Treatment

Root planing and scaling- Before the dentist professionally cleans your teeth, he or she will use a number of specialized dental tools that are used to remove the tartar and plaque buildup above and below the gum line. This part of the process is definitely not a walk in the park as the patient may feel incredibly irritated and can feel pain during the step. The scaling tools are used to scrape each and every affected tooth by removing any last trace of bacteria. Root planning is when the dentist will then smoothen out any areas that may still hold bacteria. This part of the procedure is necessary to ensure the gums will reattach to a clean surface on your teeth so that the patient does not need to lose teeth. If the pain becomes too much during the step, you can always ask for a local anesthetic to numb the area needed in order to make this process a little more pleasant.

Dental Cleaning- Once this first up is complete, your dentist will perform a professional dental cleaning. Your dentist will remove all of the unattached tartar from your teeth and will clean and brush your teeth with dental tools to ensure every corner of your teeth are cleaned.

Surgical Gum Disease Treatment

Depending on the severity of your gum disease, you may need different treatment options to ensure your natural teeth can be saved from extraction or from falling out. Your dentist will likely perform the nonsurgical treatments listed above along with any other surgical treatments if needed afterward. Surgical treatment option can include bone surgery, bone and tissue grafts, in pocket or flap surgery, or tissue regeneration. As obvious as it may be, these treatment options will be incredibly painful. However, in almost all cases your dental professional will provide you with a form of sedation that will either put you to sleep or will completely remove any feeling from your mouth or jaw for the needed surgery.

Be sure to prevent any form of gum disease by visiting your dentist every six months, brushing your teeth twice today, and flossing at least once. It’s incredibly important not to skip flossing as it can lead to gum disease if it is not practiced.

What Is Periodontal Disease?

This type of gum disease is specifically categorized as a particular infection or bacteria buildup of the tissue that surrounds your teeth. If the patient does not brush his or her teeth twice today and floss at least once a day, the risk of getting this type of gum infection becomes extremely high. 

Causes

This bacteria is typically formed when food is combined with bacteria, and our own saliva hardens and forms a wall of plaque or tartar. This plaque becomes a slimy and sticky substance that adheres to teeth along the gum line. When this plaque is left untreated and not removed, it becomes harder and cements itself to the teeth. Once this happens, the tartar will slowly build under the gum line, and from this point, can only be removed by a dental professional and a deep cleaning.

Signs and Symptoms

The best way to know if you have extreme plaque buildup is by noticing if your gums, in general, seem redder than usual. If there is a line of yellow buildup between your teeth and gums, this is also a great sign to notice. If you have extremely bad breath, even though you may have just brushed your teeth, you may have a form of gum disease as well. The most obvious way of knowing if you have periodontal gum disease is by figuring out if your gums are inflamed. Swollen or inflamed gums will start to feel tender and can severely bleed during a gentle tooth-brushing session. Once periodontitis is climbing into an advanced stage, your swollen gums will slowly start to detach from the bacteria-filled tooth, leaving behind an empty pocket. This pocket can be infected pretty quickly by the bacteria and can cause your gum lines to detach from your teeth quicker an can result in tooth and bone loss.

Gingivitis

There is an official phase just before you get periodontal gum disease, called gingivitis. Gingivitis is a mild case of gum disease that can cause little to no discomfort. Millions of Americans have gingivitis without even knowing they do. Some symptoms of gingivitis can include bad breath, swollen gums, slight bleeding, and reddish gums. This type of gum disease always starts via a common denominator, inadequate oral hygiene. This type of gum disease is always reversible with a professional deep clean and can always be prevented by good oral hygiene. If this form of gum disease is not treated, then periodontal gum disease will follow.

Signs You May Be At A Higher Risk For Periodontal Gum Disease

  • You are an avid smoker or tobacco user
  • You have diabetes
  • You are going through hormonal changes
  • You are going through an illness in which weakens your immune system
  • You are an avid alcohol drinker
  • Last but not least, good old genetics
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