How To Prevent Periodontal Gum Disease

Periodontal gum disease is very common. Most patients do not know about it and are not aware of all of the symptoms. This mouth disease has no major symptoms in the early stages. After you start losing teeth, the gums can be impossible to treat.

If you do not remember how the gum illness begins, here is a quick review. Your saliva mixes with food as you eat. Some of the dissolved foods attach to the base of the teeth near the gum line. Getting food caught in between your teeth is not the same as having dissolved food attached to a tooth.

As the dissolved food bonds to a tooth, it builds up in a white film in your mouth. This white film is called plaque. As the plaque accumulates, it will turn yellow. Plaque that turns yellow is called tartar.

A small amount of built up tartar will be sufficient to bother your gum tissues. Your mouth will turn red and swell up a little. As the condition progresses, your gum tissues will pull away from the surrounding teeth. This will eventually cause them to fall out.

Your dentist or dental hygienist can help you maintain your gums and keep them free of disease. Dental professionals are able to scrape away the plaque and tartar in your mouth with their special tools.

Once the dissolved food has been removed from the gum line, it may remain painful or tender for a while. Scraping away plaque and tartar can bother diseased gum tissue. Once your gums heal, they will not hurt anymore. Brushing the teeth with tartar control toothpaste will prevent the tartar from rebuilding. The more thoroughly you brush, the healthier your mouth will be.

If the disorder progresses to the point that there are gaps in the gum tissues, the treatment for it will be more complicated than cleaning. Your dental professional will have to clean each tooth and fix the gums with a laser or metal tools. Your gums will be made into a strong support for each tooth once again.

If you allow the periodontal gum disease to progress to tooth loss, there will be nothing your dental professional can do to save the teeth. She can treat the gum tissue in the rest of your mouth to help you keep the rest of the teeth. You might also be sent to a cosmetic dentist for tooth replacement.

The cosmetic dentist will survey how much damage is in your mouth. If you still have many of your teeth, you might get a partial or a bridge. Implants or dentures may be required if most of your teeth are loosening or falling out.

It is a lot easier to treat periodontal gum disease before it advances to tooth loss. It will take less than sixty minutes for your dentist to perform a painless tooth cleaning. If you go to see him twice a year and brush with tartar preventing toothpaste, you will save each of your teeth.