Nonsurgical Gum Disease Treatment Options

2023-08-01T10:07:43+00:00 August 1st, 2023|Oral Health|0 Comments

Gum Disease TreatmentGum disease impacts a wide number of dental patients in the United States. Gum disease (periodontitis) affects almost half of all dental patients over thirty and 70% or more of all dental patients over sixty. If left untreated, this condition can lead to tooth loss, so getting dental care as soon as possible is important if you think you have gum disease. Here, we discuss the signs of gum disease and nonsurgical gum disease treatment options to help restore your overall dental health. 

What Is Gum Disease?

Gum disease or periodontitis happens when bacteria build up within the mouth and along the gumline. This leads to irritation, gums that bleed easily, receding gums, and eventually loose or dislodged teeth. 

 

Due to an infection along the gum line, gum tissue gets damaged over time, leading to loose teeth. Pockets of bacteria can gather below the gum line, leading to loose pockets of gums packed with bacteria. 

 

Gum disease treatment removes the chances of another bacterial infection while simultaneously treating the current illness. While nonsurgical gum disease treatment options are available, they work best on less advanced cases of gum disease, meaning early detection is crucial for efficient treatment. 

 

Be sure to visit your dentist often for routine cleanings, and keep up with your dental hygiene to stave off gum disease. 

Gum Disease Treatment Options

Nonsurgical gum disease treatments include dental scaling and planing, laser treatment, and tray applications for medication. First, let’s take a look at dental scaling and planing. Bacteria hide in hard-to-reach areas of your mouth. If the surface and roots of your teeth have pitting or rough surfaces, bacteria can grow in these pockets, leading to irritation and infection. 

 

Scaling and planing cleans and smooths these areas, removing any ongoing infection and bacteria and leaving a smooth surface behind. Dental scaling along the roots requires moving the gumline to clean hard-to-reach areas. While this can help prevent gum disease, some patients still need advanced treatments to stave off periodontitis fully. 

The next treatment involves lasers; it’s not something out of sci-fi. Laser treatment can specifically target infected areas and bacteria. A steady hand monitors the different wavelengths to prevent further gum damage. However, this non-invasive procedure can help treat gum disease without surgery.

 

Finally, delivery trays allow your dentist to treat gum disease with different medications, reaching all surfaces in your mouth at once. These trays deliver medication that fights the bacteria at the source, killing infection and fighting off gum disease. 

 

Combining these treatment options allows your periodontist or dentist to fight gum disease, although surgical treatments may be needed in many cases. These surgical treatments are best used for reducing gumline pockets, securing teeth, and adding gum grafts to repair ongoing damage to your mouth due to periodontal disease. However, early detection reduces your odds of needing surgical intervention for gum disease, so visit your dentist often.  

 

If you have gum disease or any questions, contact Bright Value Dental at (713) 668-1600. Our team of trained professionals can answer your questions and help you set up an appointment to talk with our team. We look forward to hearing from you soon. 

 

Source(s):

https://www.perio.org/for-patients/periodontal-treatments-and-procedures/non-surgical-treatments/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/periodontitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354473

 

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