Gum Disease – Periodontitis

Gum disease (periodontitis) is a slow progressing condition that many people don’t realise they have. It can present as bleeding, swollen and/or shrinking gums as well as drifting or mobile teeth. Sometimes it can result in bad breath as well. If plaque accumulates along the gums and is not cleared effectively or frequently enough, it will calcify becoming calculus. Calculus is too hard for a toothbrush to remove. This is when the vicious cycle occurs - the naturally shallow pockets between the gum and tooth surface begins to deepen as it tries to get away from the plaque and calculus. Deep pockets are harder to clean with regular toothbrushes and floss, so more bacteria harbours at the depths of them causing the pockets to get even deeper. It can also start to cause damage to the bone around the tooth. Certain habits (eg. smoking) and medical conditions (eg. diabetes) exacerbate this whole process.

We believe prevention is the key, so we make sure we assess how well you’re doing with your oral hygiene at home. Then we educate - most of us have never really been shown the best way to brush or floss. If needed, we’ll also tailor a regime to meet your individual abilities and needs - let’s be honest...flossing isn’t the easiest thing to do! So, there are other tools we can introduce you to that can make the job easier.

If you do suffer from periodontitis then we will spend time educating you on the disease and how it progresses so that you can better understand how to stop it getting worse. We will develop an individual oral hygiene regime for you to do at home for those vulnerable areas in the mouth and often perform a deep clean at regular intervals until the gums stabilise.

If periodontitis isn’t treated, then it will cause significant damage to your gums. The gums and underlying bone will receed, reducing it’s ability to support your tooth. This can cause teeth to drift, become mobile and sometimes affected teeth can fall out prematurely. It is a condition that slowly and silently progresses, so it’s vital to treat it as early as possible before the situation is exacerbated further.

If you’re in need of help with identifying, preventing or treating periodontitis, then don’t hesitate to contact us today. We’d be happy to work together with you in order to teach you better oral hygiene habits so that you can prevent the condition from occurring. We’ll help you understand the condition and how you can best manage it so that you don’t risk suffering long-term damage to your gums or risk losing your teeth.