Gum Infection Treatment in Raleigh, North Carolina
For the highest quality periodontal treatment for your gums, make an appointment with Raleigh Dental Loft today!
Poor oral hygiene habits often lead to periodontal disease, a common source of infection that affects the gum tissues around your teeth. In advanced stages, it can lead to bleeding gums, painful chewing, and tooth loss.
At Raleigh Dental Loft, we understand this problem all too well, and that’s why we offer various treatment options to residents of Raleigh, NC.
The most common and effective types of periodontal therapies are scaling, root planing, and deep cleaning. To get a treatment option that suits your needs, please contact us to schedule an appointment.
Gum Disease Symptoms
Gum disease symptoms are not usually noticeable but can cause considerable damage you do not treat them on time.
Recognizing these warning signs of gum infection can be an essential way of preventing the side effects that come with the disease:
- Chronic bad breath
- Tooth loss
- Bleeding and receding gums
- Sharp or throbbing gum pain
- Sensitivity when chewing food
Causes of Gum Disease
Our mouths are teeming with bacteria that constantly combine with saliva, fluids, and food to form a colorless, sticky coating on the teeth known as plaque. Usually, flossing and brushing can help get rid of plaque.
However, plaque can harden and turn into tartar—in which case, you will need to schedule a visit to a dental hygienist or dentist for a cleaning procedure. Dentists and The American Dental Association recommend that everyone should have regular dental cleanings every six months to one year. Some people prone to tartar may need them more frequently.
Factors that increase chances of gum disease include:
- Chewing or smoking
- Diabetes
- Poor oral hygiene
- Infection or illness
- Decreased estrogen levels during pregnancy
If you’re concerned that these factors might place you at risk, then be sure to clean your teeth thoroughly and regularly. Brush for two minutes twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and be sure to floss every day before bedtime to remove food debris and plaque from between the teeth where brushes can’t reach.
Regular dental visits are also essential in maintaining good oral health.
Gum Disease Stages
There are three stages of gum disease:
- Gingivitis: Improper dental hygiene is the most common cause of gingivitis. Early diagnosis and treatment of gingivitis can help prevent it from worsening into more severe symptoms. Symptoms to watch out for are gums swelling, turning red, or bleeding when flossing or brushing.
- Periodontitis: If left untreated, gingivitis can eventually worsen to periodontitis. Periodontitis occurs when plaque reaches below the gumline and produces toxins that trigger inflammation. The gums can recede, and gaps around the teeth can deepen.
- Advanced periodontitis: At this point, the dentist can treat the gum disease with surgery to remove any diseased tissue and strengthen the gums around teeth so that they no longer fall away from the bone due to inflammation.
Gum Disease Therapy
Periodontal dentists treat gum diseases in various ways depending on your overall health and the stage of the disease.
- Scaling and root planing: Scaling involves scraping off any tartar that has formed along the base of your tooth, while root planing aims to reduce inflammation by smoothing rough patches on the tooth’s surface.
- Professional dental cleaning: Your dentist or hygienist will remove bacteria and plaque from all the teeth’ surfaces. We may also treat your gums with a cleaning solution to reduce inflammation and promote healing.
- Pocket reduction surgery: Your doctor might remove any “pocket” that has formed between your gum and tooth. These pockets may contain plaque, thus requiring treatment. The pocket reduction will help heal gum disease by reducing bacteria and inflammation.
- Medication: Your doctor might prescribe an antibiotic to kill any remaining harmful germs in your mouth. This medicine can also reduce the inflammation that gingivitis or other periodontal diseases cause.
- Bone grafts: Your doctor might recommend a bone graft to help regenerate your gum tissue. Grafts replace bone in areas that gum disease has destroyed.
Gum Disease Prevention
You can maintain healthy gums and avoid infection by practicing good oral hygiene, including brushing your teeth twice a day with a toothpaste containing fluoride.
Other ways to prevent gum disease include:
- After brushing and flossing, using mouthwash or other products designed for oral hygiene
- Eating a healthy diet
- Limiting sugary snacks between meals
- Flossing more often to remove plaque and food particles from between the teeth and under the gum line
- Visiting the dentist regularly
Don’t wait for gum disease symptoms to be severe to get help. If you need expert dental advice and services, call Raleigh Loft Dental at 919-859-4500 to schedule an appointment today in Raleigh, NC!