Periodontal Disease Treatment
Gum disease is the most common cause of tooth loss. Preventive care and effective treatment can help protect your teeth.
What are Periodontal Diseases?
Periodontal diseases are the diseases of periodontal tissues (whole tissues supporting teeth). Bacteria are generated between teeth due to a lack of tooth brushing. The bacteria enters the periodontal tissues and forms deep periodontal pockets which cause inflammation gradually.
Especially those aged late 30’s, gums come down and risks of losing a tooth due to periodontal disease increase. As for the people who aged over 40, 4 out of 5 people suffer periodontal disease.
A recent study shows that the periodontal diseases lead to tooth extractions and it causes illness such as cerebral infarction, endocarditis, and diabetes, etc.
Also, periodontal diseases badly affect pregnancy such as preterm birth and childbirth of low weight infants.
Prevention of Periodontal Disease
Periodic dental examinations are essential to prevent periodontal disease. Regular check-up once every three months are required. We recommend taking regular checkups with your family as periodontal disease bacteria are a household infection.
Symptoms of Periodontal Disease
Early Stage
Inflammation occurs in gums. The gums become red and swollen. There is no pain, but the gum bleeds during tooth brushing.
Middle stage
The periodontal pocket gets deeper, and teeth become loose. It is hard to chew tough food.
Later stage
Subjective symptoms such as swollen gums, bad breath and teeth moving occur. It is very painful to chew foods. Occasionally teeth fall out when appropriate treatment cannot be done.
The symptoms of periodontal disease are very difficult to be recognized, and it is often too late when you notice it. It is vital to protect your essential teeth with early detection and early treatment.
General Flow of Periodontal Disease Treatment
Regardless of the stages, everyday tooth brushing is the primary treatment for periodontal diseases. There are many cases that food remains in a mouth due to a bad tooth brushing method. So it is important to review how to brush it with your dentist.
In the early stage of periodontal disease, changing to a better brushing method is significantly effective to make the periodontal pocket shallow.
When the periodontal pocket cannot be cured by only tooth brushing or the periodontal disease infects tissues where brushing cannot reach, a surgical approach will be done. (incising the gingiva and removing the dirt on the root of tooth, and regeneration of lost periodontal tissue, etc.).