admin
May 03, 2023
Gums are that part of our mouths that never get any attention. While we care for our teeth and strive to keep them bright and shining, we often forget our gums. The soft pink skin around our teeth bone is crucial for oral health because it holds the tooth in place and protects it from the attack of bacteria.
Thus, gum health is as significant as tooth health. Usually, gum disease begins with a mild form, known as gingivitis, and grows into periodontitis, which can lead to tooth loss in its advanced stage.
It is essential to understand gum disease, its causes, symptoms and treatments to keep your mouth healthy. Gathering knowledge on the topic helps to stay vigilant and avert serious damage to gums.
What Is Gum Disease?
Gum disease is an infection of the gums that causes swelling, redness and bleeding while brushing and flossing. Gingivitis is the first stage of gum disease, which causes mild inflammation and can be easily treated by your dentist Hope Island.
However, if it is left untreated, the bacteria start affecting the tooth bone, which causes gum recession and creates a gap between the tooth and the gum line.
The bacteria find their way into these gaps and increase the level of infection. If the problem is not rectified at this stage, it turns into moderate periodontitis. In this condition, the bacteria in the gaps start damaging the soft tissues, ligaments and bone of the tooth.
If the bone loss is left unchecked, the problem moves into the advanced periodontitis stage. In this condition, the tooth becomes loose due to bone loss and finally falls out.
What Are the Causes of Gum Disease?
Gum disease is caused by the accumulation of bacteria on the teeth and gums. It leads to the build-up of plaque that hardens with time and turns into tartar. The hardened plaque gets stuck to the gum line and cannot be removed with brushing, and it starts showing signs of gum disease.
The bacteria present in the tartar cause pain and swelling of the gums. It is vital to understand that the root cause of this problem is improper brushing and poor oral hygiene, which leads to the growth of bacteria in the mouth.
Also, people who smoke or are suffering from diabetes are more susceptible to periodontal disease. Other health conditions that affect the immune system and make the patient vulnerable to gum disease include Crohn’s disease, lupus, etc. Periodontal disease is also hereditary, making the next generation prone to the problem.
A few other causes can be stress and hormonal changes in the body, such as pregnancy or menopause. A poor diet that includes foods affecting gum health is also one of the factors that cause gum disease. Individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS or cancer have low immunity and thus are at risk of gum disease.
What Are the Symptoms of Gum Disease?
As the disease progresses, the nature of symptoms also changes. The most common symptoms include inflammation of gums, swelling, bleeding, bad breath, tooth sensitivity, tooth pain, pulling away of gums, pus in the gum line and loose teeth.
Gum disease must be identified with the help of these symptoms and treated quickly to avoid its acceleration into bigger health issues like stroke and heart disease. Poor dental health can impact the entire body. Thus, visiting your dentist in Hope Island frequently for checkups helps to keep gum problems at bay.
How Can Gum Disease Be Treated?
Gum disease in its initial stage can be effectively treated by a dentist, who is specialised in treating gum problems. They use the following methods to get rid of the disease.
- Cleaning Gums With Scaling and Root Planing
In scaling, the practitioner cleans the plaque and bacteria with the help of dental equipment to get rid of the build-up near the gum line. They use root planing to smooth out the root of the tooth so that bacteria are not deposited on them again.
- Curing the Gum Infection With Medicines
Dentists can prescribe some antibiotic gels or mouthwashes to get rid of the bacteria or some oral medicines that heal the infection and reduce gum bleeding.
- Pocket Reduction Surgery for Gums
Also known as flap surgery, pocket reduction is a procedure done under anaesthesia. It involves removing the bacteria from the gaps between the teeth and gums and suturing the gums back to their original position to keep the teeth intact.
- Bone Grafting for Tooth Bone Loss
When periodontitis reaches the advanced stage and eats away the bone of the tooth, the periodontist has to perform bone grafting to replace the lost bone. The graft includes artificial material or a part of the bone to offer support for regeneration.
Wrapping Up
Gum disease can be easily prevented by maintaining optimum oral hygiene through daily brushing and flossing. It is essential to cover all the teeth surfaces and use fluoride-based toothpaste to keep your mouth disease-free.
