Gum disease or periodontal disease can cause serious dental complications if left untreated. Thankfully, if caught early enough, gum disease requires only simple, minimally invasive treatments. However, the longer you wait to see a dentist, the more likely you’ll encounter complications like receding gum lines, loose teeth, or even bone loss. Here, we cover gum disease, its symptoms, and treatment options available to patients.
What Causes Gum Disease?
Gum disease happens when plaque forms on your teeth. You usually remove plaque by brushing and flossing your teeth. However, the bacteria that make up plaque can cause gum disease and cavities if left on your teeth too long. In addition, if you don’t remove the plaque, your gums can pull away from your teeth, leaving space between the gums and your teeth for more bacteria to grow. This can lead to tooth loss, as well as serious dental problems, down the road.
The best way to prevent gum disease is by brushing twice daily, flossing daily, and visiting your dentist for regular cleanings. This can help remove tartar or calculus (calcified plaque) that forms on your teeth and can help stave off gum disease.
Symptoms of Gum Disease
Gum disease has many symptoms, the easiest to spot being sore, tender gums that bleed easily. This is an early sign of gum disease, so reach out to your dentist if your gums are more tender than usual or bleed easily when flossing or brushing your teeth, especially when using a soft toothbrush.
Other signs of gum disease include receding gums, swollen gums, pus between your teeth and gums, constant bad breath that won’t go away even with cleaning, and a change in your bite alignment. These are signs of advanced gingivitis, so don’t hesitate to visit your dentist if you notice any of these symptoms.
Remember that you may not see your gums pulling away if you have dentures. However, many symptoms, such as swollen and bleeding gums, pus, bad breath, and more, still apply.
Gum Disease Treatment
The first stage of treating gum disease is to remove the plaque and tartar on your teeth. Your dentist may also need to clean out the pockets of bacteria using dental scaling and root planing. This removes any calcified deposits below the gum line, cleaning the area and smoothing the surface to prevent more plaque.
Your dentist may also prescribe antibiotics to help fight off the bacterial infection. In some cases, you may need dental grafts or even bone grafts to repair the damage done by the infection. However, this is a treatment for advanced gingivitis (gum disease), so the sooner you seek treatment, the better your recovery time.
If you’re worried about gum disease or have any other questions, contact Bright Value Dental. Our team of trained dental professionals would be happy to help answer your questions or set up an appointment with our team today. So give us a call at (713) 668-1600.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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