Treating Gum Disease
We all know that regular dentist visits along with brushing and flossing are important to help you maintain your beautiful smile. But, these things do more good than you think. By practicing excellent periodontal health, you can also help prevent your mouth from contracting gum disease. You’ve probably heard of gum disease, but you may not know what it looks like, or what it can cause. We’re going to give you a crash course on gum disease so you can be on the lookout for the signs and symptoms, and know just what to do to treat it.
So, how do you even get gum disease? Gum disease is caused by plaque building up between your teeth and gums. This usually happens from poor periodontal health like not regularly visiting your dentist and not brushing or flossing. You may not even know you have gum disease because, at the beginning stages, there might not be any pain or discomfort. But, if you do have symptoms, these are a few that you should be on the lookout for:
- Gums that bleed easily
- Red or swollen gums
- Receding gums (or teeth that look long)
- Chronic tooth sensitivity
- Bad breath
- Paces or pockets between teeth
But, don’t freak out yet if you have these symptoms because gum disease is treatable, especially if it’s caught early. Just by regularly visiting the dentist for cleanings and check-ups, your dental team can reverse the effects of gum disease, and possibly even prevent it all together.
If you find out that you have more severe gum disease, you still shouldn’t completely freak out just yet. Deep cleaning, root scaling and antibiotics are some non-surgical ways to get rid of this unwanted disease. Through deep cleaning and root scaling, your dentist will scrape off the plaque build-up. This plaque builds up on the surface of your teeth and in the pocket areas in your gums. This build-up is what causes gum disease in the first place. After these procedures, it’s important to make sure you continue to visit your dentist for follow-up appointments to make sure the gum disease is going away.
In the most severe cases, sometimes surgery is necessary to help get rid of gum disease so you can keep your smile looking beautiful.
Over 60 million American adults suffer from gum disease, and we don’t want you to be one of them. So, make sure to visit your dentist regularly, and always remember to brush and floss! Gum disease is preventable, so practice good dental health so you can keep your smile healthy and beautiful for life.
