Periodontal Therapy Near Severna Park and Millersville
What is Gum Disease, and What Does it do?
Periodontitis, also known as gum disease or periodontal disease, is a condition caused by bacteria in your mouth. Gingivitis, which is gum inflammation, can lead to periodontitis. The most common cause of gum disease is poor dental hygiene. Still, other factors can also contribute beyond bad brushing and flossing, such as increases in stress, hormonal changes, pregnancy, medications, health conditions such as diabetes or AIDS that impact your immune system, diet, and habits like smoking.
Gums become inflamed as bacteria build up on the teeth and form into plaque and tartar. This causes the gums to swell and begin to separate their attachment from tooth roots. You can experience several symptoms when this happens, such as bad breath, red, tender, or bleeding gums, pain when chewing, loose or sensitive teeth, and receding gum lines.
As gum disease becomes more advanced, it affects the hard tissue in your mouth that supports your bone structure, as well as the bone itself. Periodontitis will eat away at this tissue and, in advanced stages, can require extreme measures like tooth extraction and surgery to reverse. The best way to address gum disease is early treatment, which is one reason why regular checkups with your dentist are so critical.
Getting Periodontal Therapy Treatment
There are many ways to treat gum disease, known collectively as periodontal therapy. The proper treatment depends greatly on how advanced your gum disease is and the different effects. There are several early treatment options for gum disease that are less intrusive if the condition is caught fast enough:
- Scaling involves removing plaque from your teeth just below the gum line and can be accomplished through a metal scaler or ultrasonic instrument.
- Root Planing is similar to scaling but goes much deeper toward the tooth’s root to remove deeper plaque and bacteria.
- Antibiotics can sometimes combat bacterial infections in the gums.
Advanced cases of periodontal disease may require more invasive treatments, including:
- Gum pocket reduction surgery: often paired with tissue grafting or regeneration, your dentist surgically removes the diseased parts of your gum tissue.
- Tissue or bone grafting: tissue and bone are living matter that can be relocated from a healthy part of your mouth to the part of your teeth or gums that have deteriorated. Over time your mouth will heal, and the gum tissues will fuse to your mouth.
- Tissue regeneration or stimulation: these techniques involve developing new tissue and using those to stimulate total healing in the gum or tooth extraction site.
- Tooth or bone extraction: sometimes, the decay in the bone or tooth is significant enough to require complete extraction. This can lead to various treatment options to fill the space, such as bridges or dental implants.
At Dr. Brian Valle P.A., we want to see you regularly to reduce the risk of gum disease and catch the early signs of periodontitis. But if you have developed gum disease, we are prepared to offer the full array of periodontal therapy treatments. Suppose you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above. In that case, we invite you to come see us immediately so we can take a look and help you address these symptoms and treat any underlying disease as soon as possible.
