Gum Disease Treatment

The gums, also known as gingiva, are tissues of the upper and lower jaw surrounding and protecting the skin. As we all know, gums form a tight seal around the teeth, protecting them from bacteria and holding them in place. No doubt, they are an integral part of your oral health and must be shown adequate care. Regular brushing, flossing, dental examinations, and cleanings help keep your gums healthy. However, neglecting the gums causes infections and leads to gum disease.

Gum disease is a severe gum infection that damages the mouth’s soft tissues and destroys the bones that support the teeth when left untreated. In its earliest stage, gum disease is gingivitis. Gingivitis occurs when the gums are irritated and inflamed by bacteria from dental plaques. If left untreated, gingivitis becomes periodontitis, the worst stage of gum disease. At this point, your gums recede and expose your tooth roots, your teeth are loose, and you might need to get an extraction from a dentist in Roswell.

What Are The Primary Causes Of Gum Disease?

The primary causes of gum disease include:

• Dental Plaques: The primary cause of gum disease is the infestation of the mouth with dental plaques. Dental plaques are slimy films of bacteria that form when saliva, food particles, and bacteria interact in the mouth. They stick to the surface of the teeth and produce acids that cause gum disease.

• Misaligned teeth and malocclusion: Malocclusion and misalignment often lead to spaces between the teeth that serve as a breeding ground for dental plaques. They also make the teeth harder to clean and put you at risk of gum diseases.

• Smoking and chewing tobacco make you more vulnerable to dental diseases and infections such as gum disease as it interferes with your gum tissues.

• Genetics and family history: Your risks of developing gum disease are slightly higher if you have a history of the disease in your family.

• Hormonal changes: The hormones rise and fall during pregnancy, puberty, menstruation, etc., and this sometimes makes your gums more vulnerable to infections.

Other risk factors for gum disease near you include diabetes, weak immunity, medications, nutritional deficiency, poorly fitted dental appliances, etc.

What Are The Symptoms Of Gum Disease

The following are signs that you might have gum disease:

• Your gums are tender, red, swollen. That is one of the first signs of gum disease.
• Your gums bleed whenever you are brushing or flossing your teeth.
• Halitosis (bad breath). The bacteria that cause gum disease release toxins that produce a foul smell and lead to bad breath.
• Your teeth become sensitive to hot and cold temperatures.
• Your gums recede and get smaller. That exposes your teeth roots and makes your teeth appear longer.
• Your teeth become loose, and you experience pain and discomfort while chewing.
• Your dental appliances, like partial dentures, will no longer fit.

You should consult a dentist near you immediately you experience any of these symptoms to prevent worse implications.

How To Treat Gum Disease

To treat gum disease and control the infection, Dr. Judd Shenk tries to reverse the effects of gum diseases. Your dentist carries this out through a deep professional dental cleaning. This cleaning goes beyond the gumline, unlike a regular dental cleaning. A dentist in 30075 removes dental plaques and tartar through a procedure known as scaling and root planing, carried out during this deep cleaning. Dentists scrape away the dental plaques and tartar with special instruments above and below the gum line. This is known as scaling in gum disease treatment. Your dentist, through root planing, also smoothens rough spots on your teeth and removes bacteria to provide a clean surface for the reattachment of the gums to the teeth.

What Happens If You Need Advanced Treatment?

You might require advanced treatment like surgery if the above procedures fail to treat your gum diseases. Surgical procedures used to treat gum disease include:

• Gum graft surgery.
• Tissue regeneration.
• Flap surgery.
• Soft tissues graft.
• Pocket reduction surgery.