Gum Disease-Periodontal Disease?

What do you know about periodontal disease?

-- Periodontal disease has been linked to heart disease.
-- Periodontal is not painful, until your teeth are loose.
-- Periodontal disease needs to be maintained every 3 - 4 months, depending on your home care.
-- Periodontal disease is related to diabetes.
-- Periodontal disease is more common in smokers.
-- Periodontal disease can "run in families".
-- Periodontal disease can be improved.
-- Some medications can cause inflammation of gum tissue, resulting in poor hygiene, which could result in periodontal disease.

Symptoms:

-- Inflammation of Gum Tissue or Red Gums
-- Bleeding gums when brushing or flossing
-- Bad Breath or Bad Taste
-- Loose Teeth or Teeth that have moved.
-- Change of your bite, the way your teeth meet, may indicate loose teeth.

A hygienist will measure your "pockets", this is the area that you floss. Each tooth has 6 points of measurements, the front right, front central, front left of the tooth, the back of the tooth on the right side, back central, and the back left of the tooth. In dental terms it is: mesial facial, buccal, distal facial, mesial lingual, lingual, and distal lingual. When measurements are taken 1 - 3 mm¡¦s are considered healthy and anything 4mm or above are considered periodontal disease.

You can not clean anything below the gum-line that is 4mm or deeper, if the tartar and bacteria are not removed, this causes perio (gum) disease. Only a dentist or hygienist can remove the tartar and bacteria that lies in the deeper pockets. This is why preventive appointments are necessary for patients. We like to see our patients every 6 months to evaluate for gum disease. A full mouth series of x-rays are also necessary every three years to determine if a patient has bone loss and to show if any tartar is below 3 mms.

The hygienist has special instruments that can be used to remove the tartar, with a procedure that is called scaling and root-planing. Most patients will receive anesthetic for this procedure.

During the "deep cleaning - scaling and root planning" the hygienist will insert a liquid into the pockets after the tartar is removed, to help fight the bacteria.

Most patients with periodontal disease need to be seen every three to four months for "perio- maintenance".

A few ways to reduce your risk of getting periodontal disease:

-- See your hygienist/dentist every 6 months to keep a healthy mouth.
-- Stop smoking.
-- Have excellent home care, brush and floss daily.
-- Ask your hygienist/dentist to perio probe (take measurements) yearly.
-- Inform your dental office of new medications you may be taking.

Remember that dentures are not as good as what you were born with. Another saying we have in our office, "You should only floss the teeth you want to keep."

Stay tuned for the next article: Implants

Lakeland Hills Dental
Cosmetic Dentistry Dental Implants