February is Gum Disease Awareness Month

Most people know about cavities and have maybe heard of gingivitis, but what all do you know about gum disease?

Have you ever been told you need a "deep cleaning”?

The colloquial “deep cleaning” is a way to describe the initial method of treating periodontal (gum) disease. 

What is gum disease?

Early stage gum disease is called gingivitis. This is inflammation of the gums, and you may notice redness, puffiness, tenderness, and/or bleeding. Healthy gums should appear pink, sometimes with racial pigmentation, with no bleeding when you brush and floss. Gingivitis is fortunately reversible with good home and professional care. 

Later stage gum disease is called periodontitis. This is what happens if gingivitis goes unfixed. This is when the supporting bone around the teeth begins to be destroyed due to plaque and bacteria that have festered under the gums. At this stage you may notice the same things as gingivitis, as well as the gums pulling away from the teeth, and eventually even loose teeth. This can result in loss of teeth, due to the continual loss of bony support. In addition, the bacteria responsible for periodontitis can enter your bloodstream and possibly impact other parts of your body. Periodontitis has been linked with coronary artery disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

That’s not great. So how do we prevent gum disease?

The best ways are fortunately pretty simple. First, maintain good oral hygiene at home. This means brushing your teeth for two full minutes when you wake up and last thing before you go to sleep, using a soft toothbrush with round strokes or electric toothbrush without pressure. Brushing too aggressively can also harm your gums and even your teeth, so be sure you do not scrub or use toothbrushes that are not soft. It also means flossing at least every night. Brushing alone misses what builds up in between the teeth, so skipping flossing will put you at an increased risk of gum disease (and cavities, too). 

Second, make sure you see a dentist at least every 6 months, or more often if they recommend. Over time, sometimes hard tartar develops around the teeth and gums that cannot be removed by your brush at home. Your dentist or dental hygienist can remove this with your professional cleanings. Regular exams are also crucial to monitor your oral health and detect and be able to treat issues early, should they arise. Once gum disease develops, following treatment, maintenance visits at intervals of every 3 months are typically recommended to avoid relapsing back into active disease.

It is important to note that certain factors increase your risk of developing periodontitis outside of poor oral hygiene. These include but may not be limited to, tobacco or recreational drug use, hormonal changes, obesity, inadequate nutrition, genetics, certain medications that can cause dry mouth, and diseases and conditions that affect your immune system or increase your risk of infection. 

How is gum disease treated?

Typically when you go to the dentist and gum disease is not present, you get a preventive cleaning every 6 months. If gum disease develops, it can no longer be prevented; it must be treated.

This is why a dentist or dental hygienist would be unable to perform a routine preventive cleaning even if you decline to proceed with treatment for your gum disease. 

The initial procedure to treat this disease is formally called scaling and root planing, but you may hear it referred to as deep cleaning, gum disease therapy, or gum disease treatment. 

As bone is lost around the teeth, deeper pockets around the teeth are created, which must be thoroughly cleared of tartar and bacteria. Both the crown and root surfaces of teeth are cleaned and smoothed during gum disease therapy. This is crucial to remove bacteria, enable gums to reattach, and to stop the loss of bone from continuing. 

As you can imagine, this is quite different compared to a preventive cleaning. Most often patients require numbing for the procedure, and it can sometimes take three hours or more to complete the full mouth.

Patients must be very diligent with home care after gum disease therapy to maintain treatment results. Severe cases and cases that do not sufficiently improve may require additional rounds of therapy or sometimes surgical and/or other forms of therapy, sometimes requiring a specialist. 

It is not “aging"

Gum disease and loss of teeth is NOT just a normal part of aging, and it can be avoided! This has been shown by the decrease in prevalence of moderate and severe gum disease in adults and seniors since the early 1970s. However, it is also not limited to older adults. CDC data from 2009-2012 showed that 47.2% of adults age 30 and older had some form of gum disease. Even children can get gingivitis and in rare cases, periodontitis, particularly in association with certain systemic diseases. Unfortunately, significant disparities remain in some population groups, and gum disease is still the most common cause of tooth loss in adults. Take gum health and overall health seriously by committing to good oral hygiene at home and regular visits to the dentist. If you are diagnosed with gum disease, complete treatment as soon as possible. If you think you may have gum disease, schedule an appointment with a dentist.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Kelsey B.P. Garza is a General Dentist and the owner of Darling Dentistry in Bulverde, TX. She is delighted to be able to provide patients in and around Bulverde and Spring Branch with an elevated experience to the dentist through quality, compassionate, and ethical care with special attention to providing a more relaxing environment and helping patients overcome dental anxiety and fear. She is an active member of the Academy of General Dentistry, American Dental Association, American Association of Women Dentists, Texas Dental Association, San Antonio District Dental Society, and the Bulverde - Spring Branch Area Chamber of Commerce. She is accepting new patients. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to schedule an appointment, click the Schedule Now button to reserve your spot through our online scheduling, or reach out to 830.357.7177 or care@darlingdentistry.com.

References:

https://www.perio.org/for-patients/gum-disease-information/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/periodontitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354473
https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/data-statistics/periodontal-disease
https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/conditions/periodontal-disease.html