Gum disease can happen to anyone and for a number of different reasons. As gum disease progresses, it can lead to other more serious problems. This is why it is important to take care of not only your teeth but also your gums. If you already notice the symptoms of gum disease, you may want to know is gum disease reversible, and if it is, how to reverse it. This article will cover the basics on gum disease such symptoms, treatments and prevention.
What Is Gum Disease?
While there are a lot of diseases that can affect the tooth supporting parts of your mouth, there is one that makes up most of the causes: plaque-induced inflammation. These lesions are usually divided into two different types: either periodontitis or gingivitis.
Periodontitis is when the destruction of the tissues and the teeth gets to the bone that lies underneath. The gums will eventually separate from the teeth and cause spaces where infection can get into. While the disease progresses, the pockets get deeper and more bone and tissue is harmed. It often has no symptoms until it gets really bad, but this disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.
What Are the Causes Of Gum Disease?
There are a number of different causes of this disease. The main cause can be attributed to when plaque builds up on the teeth, but other contributing factors include:
- Clenching or grinding your teeth
- Diabetes
- Genetics
- Poor nutrition
- Pregnancy and menopause in women
- Puberty
- Smoking or tobacco use
- Stress
These are all triggers of this disease. Since there are so many, people don’t realize that what they are doing or what their bodies are going through is contributing to the poor health of their teeth. Therefore, this disease has a chance to worsen before anything is ever really done about it.
Gum Disease Symptoms
There are a number of different symptoms of gum disease. Because these symptoms don’t really occur until after the disease has advanced, you might have the disease without knowing it. Some of the symptoms of gum disease include:
Bleeding gums
Your gums should under no circumstances be bleeding. This is true even when you are using dental floss or brushing your teeth vigorously.
New spacing between the teeth
This is caused by the loss of bone under your teeth which leaves a visual clue behind.
Loose teeth
This is also caused by bone loss. Your teeth may wiggle due to the weaker periodontal fibers. These fibers are responsible for supporting the teeth.
Chronic bad breath
This is caused by all of the bacteria in your mouth.
Receding gums
This is due to an infection in the teeth and gums caused by the disease.
Red and inflamed gums
They should never be in this state unless something is wrong.
Discomfort and tenderness
The plaque can irritate the teeth and gums.
Nonsurgical Treatments for Gum Disease
There are a few different treatments for this disease that are not surgical in nature. One of them is prophylaxis which is a routine dental cleaning process. It is performed on patients with normal healthy teeth. Scaling and root planing is another treatment. This involves cleaning off calculus, plaque and bacteria from the mouth.
Periodontal maintenance is specifically designed for those that have gum issues. This procedure helps to stop any gum disease from reoccurring in the patient once it has been improved. This is one of the steps following dental implants or other treatment. It is ongoing and will let the doctors check on your periodontal health to ensure everything stays under control.
Surgical Treatments for Gum Disease
Pocket reduction surgery is a surgical option that helps to reduce the size of the pockets between the gums and the teeth. This procedure makes it easier to clean the roots of the teeth.
There is also a tissue regeneration procedure that can be performed after the gum and bones have been fairly damaged. These procedures make it easier for the gum tissues and bones to be regenerated. It usually involves grafting of both hard and soft tissues.
Dental implants are ideal for those who have lost teeth because of this disease. The functionality can be restored by implanting roots of a prosthetic tooth root into the diseased area.
How Can Gum Diseases Be Prevented?
The best way to prevent gum disease is to practice good oral hygiene first and foremost. Getting professional dental care is another important way to keep your teeth healthy for your entire life. The best way to prevent this is to engage in flossing and brushing twice a day, every single day.
Having good oral hygiene will help stop the formation of dental tartar which is one of the main causes of this disease. It is also good to go the dentist and have them look at the periodontal area of the mouth regularly. If they see tartar buildup, they can remove the hardened tarter to help stop the development or progression of gum disease.
For those patients with good periodontal health, you can get professional dental cleanings that will also help this process. Those who have gum disease in any form could benefit from getting professional care more often than others.
Conclusion
Gum disease is not something that should be taken lightly. The long-term effects of gum disease can be quite serious. Is gum disease reversible? The short answer is yes. However, it is much easier to prevent gum disease than treat it. And while gum disease may be treatable, more severe cases can have lasting effects.
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