Did you know that the most common cause of tooth loss in adults is gum disease? According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every two adults over the age of 30 in the United States has periodontal disease. However, the good news is that periodontal disease is almost entirely preventable. At the office of Greenwich Dental Studio, we offer a comprehensive range of services to help patients maintain optimal periodontal health and enjoy the benefits of a smile that look, feels, and functions at its best.
What Is Periodontal Disease?
Periodontal disease, more commonly known as gum disease, is a set of inflammatory diseases that affect the “periodontium,” the hard and soft tissues surrounding and supporting your teeth. Just like tooth decay, gum disease is attributed to the harmful bacteria in dental plaque and tartar that accumulate around the teeth and under the gums.
Since the progression of periodontal disease is often painless, you may not even be aware of an ongoing disease process. For this very reason, it’s essential to practice good oral hygiene and schedule regular visits for professional cleanings and routine care.
Taking care of your smile includes being mindful of the signs and symptoms of gum disease, such as:
- Inflamed and red gums
- Bleeding when brushing or flossing
- Receding gums and exposed tooth root surfaces
- Sensitivity to hot or cold temperatures
- Bad breath or a bad taste in the mouth
- Teeth that feel loose
- New spaces developing between the teeth or a change in the bite
- Change in the fit of existing partial dentures
- Discharge around the teeth and gums
- Sharp or dull pain when biting down or chewing food
The Importance of Good Oral Health
Taking care of your smile helps keep your teeth and gums in optimal condition, supporting better overall health. In addition to being the leading cause of tooth loss in adults, there are links between periodontal disease and several medical problems, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory problems.
Drs. Yeterian and Marwaha emphasize the importance of prevention, early detection, and timely treatment of periodontal disease. We provide patients the guidance, support, and care required to maintain optimal periodontal health.
What Is Gingivitis?
Gingivitis is the initial stage of gum disease. Although it doesn’t cause overt discomfort and often goes unnoticed, there are specific signs to be aware of that indicate the start of a problem. If you notice your gums bleed when you brush, look red and inflamed, or feel a little tender, you more than likely have gingivitis.
The good news is that by treating gingivitis early, the tissue damage associated with more advanced stages of gum disease can be avoided. Despite the presence of inflammation, the overall integrity of the periodontal tissues remains intact in this stage.
Treatment instituted at this point is often sufficient to reverse the course of the disease and to avoid any permanent damage to the periodontal tissues. A series of deep dental cleanings, an improved home care regimen, and a commitment to regular maintenance may be all that is required to prevent this stage of periodontal disease from progressing.
What Is Periodontitis?
When left untreated, a case of gingivitis develops into a more advanced and damaging stage of gum disease, known as periodontitis. At this point, the connective tissue and bone that hold the teeth in place begin to break down.
With the progression of periodontal disease and periodontitis, more and more tissue loss ensues. Damage often includes an increase in pocketing between the teeth and bone, gum recession, and bone loss. As periodontitis progresses from mild to moderate to severe, it increasingly compromises the soft and hard tissues that support the teeth.
Periodontal treatment in this phase is designed to halt the progression of the disease and to restore tooth support as much as possible. Treatment may involve medications to control the bacteria and reduce the size of the pockets between the teeth and gums, as well as gum surgery, bone and tissue grafts.
Let Us Help You Maintain Optimal Periodontal Health
Drs. Yeterian and Marwaha offer personalized, state-of-the-art solutions to help you maintain healthy gums and an attractive, well-functioning smile. As skilled providers of care, we utilize leading-edge technology and treatment methods to address a broad range of periodontal conditions and needs.
Thanks to advances in care, periodontal treatment helps halt the progression of gum disease. It delivers effective solutions, such as bone grafting and regenerative procedures, to repair tissue damage, restore bone volume, improve cosmetics, and provide adequate support for the placement of dental implants.
How Is Gum Disease Treated?
The type of periodontal treatment you receive depends on several factors, including the stage of periodontal disease, the extent of tissue damage, your overall oral health, existing medical conditions, and other considerations in care. After a thorough assessment of your case, we’ll discuss your options for reestablishing and maintaining optimal periodontal health. We welcome your questions and are always on hand to provide guidance and address your concerns.
Periodontal treatment can be divided into these categories.
Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment
When periodontal disease is detected early in its onset, conservative or non-surgical methods of care, combined with improved hygiene routines, can help restore periodontal health. While periodic, professional cleanings are sufficient to maintain periodontal health in patients who do not have gum disease, once gingivitis is present, deeper cleanings and possibly other non-surgical methods of care are recommended to treat the condition.
Deeper cleanings, which include scaling and root planing, are non-surgical procedures that are considered the first line of defense against the progression of periodontal disease. With this approach, any plaque and tartar (hardened dental plaque) that have accumulated below the gum line are carefully removed, and then the root surfaces of the teeth are smoothed.
Since periodontal disease is an inflammatory response to plaque, tartar, and bacterial toxins, simply mechanically eliminating these agents can halt the progression of gum disease.
In addition to removing plaque and tartar with a scaling and root planing procedure, antimicrobial medication placed under the gum line or systemic drugs can be used as adjuncts to care to further reduce the bacterial population.
Periodontal Surgery
When gum disease has advanced beyond the initial stage, periodontal surgery is often recommended to effectively remove bacteria and tartar from around the teeth, reduce the gingival pocket depth, restore as much lost tissue as possible, and halt disease progression. It’s essential to keep in mind that gum disease is a progressive condition. If appropriate measures are not taken, it continues to compromise the support of the teeth and has consequences for one’s overall dental health and well-being.
As untreated gingivitis evolves into more advanced stages of gum disease, periodontal pockets deepen, the bacteria become more difficult to remove, and the gaps between the surface of the teeth and gums get larger. When pocket depth increases to the point that it is beyond the reach of deep cleanings and other conservative methods of care (5mm or more), gum surgery is typically recommended to clean and treat the damage to the gums and underlying bone.
The good news is that with proper surgical treatment followed by improved oral hygiene, the chances of tooth loss, further damage to the bone and soft tissues supporting the teeth, and complications from health problems associated with periodontal disease can be decreased.
Pocket reduction surgery can:
- Remove subgingival bacteria beneath the gums and from the surfaces of the roots of the teeth.
- Halt damage to the underlying bone, and recontour the affected hard tissues as needed.
- Reduce pocket depth to facilitate easier cleaning of the teeth and gums, and maintain optimal periodontal health.
In many cases, a periodontal procedure known as flap surgery is recommended. During this procedure, the gums in the affected area are reflected away from the teeth and supporting bone. Now, the pockets and roots of the teeth can be thoroughly cleaned, and the supporting tissues can be recontoured as needed. Once this step is completed, the tissue flap is sutured back into its original position.
Dental lasers can also be used to perform select periodontal procedures. When applicable, laser technology can help treat periodontitis, reduce pocket depth, address peri-implantitis, and remove or recontour gingival tissues for cosmetic purposes.
Schedule a Consultation in Greenwich, CT
Do you suspect you need periodontal treatment? Dr. Yeterian and Dr. Marwaha offer thorough exams and expert care.
For more information about our office and the services we offer, please call us today at (203) 869-2884 or book an appointment online.