Gum Disease

When people think about the health of their mouth they usually thinks about their teeth, they rarely think about the gums and bone that support those teeth. Gum disease is truly a silent killer of teeth because even though it is the #1 reason for tooth loss today, it rarely hurts. In fact most people with gum disease do not experience pain until the teeth are no longer able to be saved. There are a few signs that are visible and can help you determine if you have gum disease.

1. Bleeding when brushing or flossing: ANY bleeding from your gums is a bad thing. It does not mean you have brushed or flossed too hard. Healthy gums can withstand flossing very aggressively and have no bleeding at all. What it does mean is there some level of infection in the gum tissue that needs to be dealt with.
2. Red or swollen gum tissue: Healthy gum tissue is pink and looks almost like it has a sharp edge where it meets the teeth. If the tissue is red or looks swollen, chances are there is infection there.
3. Bad Breath: Gum disease is essentially a mild bacterial infection in your mouth. Bacteria digest food and form waste. That waste goes into your mouth. Therefore you have bad breath.
4. Loose teeth: When gum disease gets severe it starts to eat away at the bone surrounding your teeth. That bone is the foundation holing your teeth where they are. If enough bone is lost then teeth will start to get loose, and FYI, it doesn’t grow back.
5. Pus or other drainage from the gum tissue: Yes, I said it, Pus. That should be enough.

Gum disease occurs at many different levels from gingivitis to severe periodontal infection. In fact almost 80% of the population shows some signs and symptoms of gum disease.

Treatment of Gum Disease:

When it comes to Gum disease, the earlier you treat it the better. If early enough it can be treated non-surgically in our office. The procedure involves removing the offending bacteria and allowing the body to properly heal without having to fight the bacteria. We sometimes use antibiotic rinse or oral antibiotics to help the body with its healing process. After this treatment a more frequent check up of every 3 to 4 months may be necessary.

If severe enough there are cases we refer to a Periodontist (gum specialist) for more advanced procedures.

Other health risks associated with gum disease:

Recently medical professionals have started to link gum disease to other prominent problems in the human body. At this time the most common chronic infection in the US is gum disease. The link between gum disease and low birth weight babies has been made for years(link). Recently gum disease has also been shown to have a link to the risk of heart disease and stroke (link). I firmly believe that the more we learn about the complexity of gum disease the more we will be hearing about it in the news.