The next time you look in the mirror, look for signs of swollen or discolered gums. Left unchecked, gum disease can break down your gums and teeth. Tribeca Dental Care in NYC can help.
How Can Periodontitis Be Cured?
One of the first things you should know about gum disease is that it’s found in nearly 50% of all American adults who are over the age of 30. This means that you shouldn’t be overly embarrassed to discover that you have gum disease. That being said, periodontitis is a more advanced form of gum disease, one that does call for more concern. Thankfully, gum disease can be diagnosed and treated at Tribeca Dental.
Understanding the Risks of Periodontitis
Before learning how to cure gum disease, you should first understand the importance of treating the disease before it has a chance to spread and worsen in your mouth. When left unchecked and untreated, gum disease can break down your gums, your jawbone, and your teeth. You can lose your teeth, which impacts your bite, your confidence, and your overall oral health. Periodontitis may also lead to an infection if it becomes necrotizing. Rather than have to deal with gum disease and the many health risks it poses, you’re much better off taking care of gum disease as soon as you learn you have it.
Common Symptoms of Gum Disease and Periodontitis
To better ensure that you don’t waste your time, energy, and money on an oral issue that you don’t actually have, you need to know the symptoms of gum disease and periodontitis. The next time you look in the mirror, look for signs of swollen or discolored gums. Your gums might also bleed, and they could also be sensitive to the touch. Additional common symptoms of gum disease include gaps forming between your teeth, teeth that feel loose, pain whenever you chew, and a sudden shift in your bite. Be sure to make an appointment with your dentist if you even suspect that you could have gum disease or any other oral health problems.
Nonsurgical Options
Because dental technology has come such a long way, there are several treatment options for those with periodontitis, both surgical and nonsurgical. One option that doesn’t deal with surgery is scaling and root planning, which involves a dentist scraping tartar and plaque off your teeth and smoothing out your roots to better ensure that you don’t have to deal with bacteria buildup in the future.
There are also antibiotics that can be prescribed to wrestle your bacteria under control. Antibiotic mouth rinses wash away bacteria, and there are also antibiotic gels that you can position between your teeth after receiving deep teeth cleaning. There are also oral antibiotics used to treat gum disease.
Surgical Options
If periodontitis is advanced enough, you may have no choice but to consider a surgical option. With pocket reduction surgery, incisions are made on your gums before the tissue is moved back for better access to the roots. Scaling and root planning is the next step, and there’s a chance that your bones will need to be contoured before the incisions are closed.
Receding gum lines is a potential symptom of gum disease, one that can harm your gum tissue. Your gums can be made stronger through surgery by using some of the tissue from the roof of your mouth to keep your gums from receding further and to protect the roots of your teeth.
Another surgical option is bone grafting, which is reserved for when the effects of gum disease have started to eat away at the bones of the jaw. After the bacteria has been dealt with, bits of bone, either actual or synthetic, are used to support the tooth and your overall oral health. You may also receive a protein supplement to help you regenerate tissue and bone.
In addition to bone grafting, your dentist may also feel that you’re a good candidate for guided tissue regeneration. This surgical option involves the use of a special fabric positioned between your bone and tooth to stimulate proper bone growth without worrying about undesirable tissue growing along the healing site.
Follow-Up Care
No matter if you have surgical or nonsurgical treatment for periodontitis, it’s vital that you do everything possible to take proper care of your new smile and improved oral health. Otherwise, you could very well find yourself in the exact same situation later on. It doesn’t hurt to ask your dentist what additional steps you can take on your own at home to keep oral issues at bay. Is there a specific toothpaste or mouthwash that you need to use to address your specific oral health problems? Are there certain types of food and drink that you should stay away from to keep your mouth, teeth, and gums healthy? Should you schedule more dental checkups than other people? No one knows how to help you preserve your smile better than your dentist, so be sure to use him or her as the resource she or he is.
Can you remember the last time you had a dental checkup? If you can’t, or if you think you may have gum disease or periodontitis, be sure to reach out to Tribeca Dental today to schedule an appointment.
Featured Image: AntonioGuillem / Getty Images
