How To Prevent And Treat Periodontal Disease
Periodontal disease occurs when there is bacteria underneath the gums that leads to infection, which destroys the underlying bone. That's why it's so important to prevent the bacteria from building up in the first place. Here is what you need to know about preventing periodontal disease and how to treat it if you have it.
Preventing Periodontal Disease
Too many people ignore the importance of flossing, but getting out the bacteria between your teeth will definitely help prevent periodontal disease. That's why it's so important that you floss on a daily basis to remove that bacteria. If you ignore flossing and allow the pockets of your gums to get too deep, you're going to be unable to easily get into the pockets to clean them. This allows bacteria to build up over time and leads to gum disease.
In addition, you should also be cleaning the back of your tongue with a tongue scraper. Many people don't realize that a lot of bacteria lives on the back of their tongue, and if they do not clean it off then it will remain in their mouth. This leads to more bacteria collecting in those pockets as they get deeper.
It's also important to understand that you are likely going to suffer from periodontal disease at some point in your life. Gums tend to recede more as people get older, which increases your chance of getting gum disease. It's important that you pay more attention to keeping your gums clean over time.
Treating Periodontal Disease
Your dentist may recommend scaling and root planing as a way to treat gum disease in its early state. Scaling and root planing is essentially a really deep cleaning, which is more involved than the typical cleanings you get at the dentist twice a year. Your dentist will need to numb your mouth so that they can get into those deep pockets to clean out the bacteria and prevent it from progressing. A deep cleaning typically takes place over two visits because of how long they take.
For more advanced forms of periodontal disease, a laser procedure may be necessary to treat the problem, since a laser is capable of getting between your gums much better than any hand tool a dentist has. A gum graft may then be necessary to help repair the gum tissue that has been damaged, which will give it more strength.
Reach out to your dentist for more information on periodontal disease treatment.