Gum Disease
Gum Disease Treatment in Milton Keynes, we'd love to help
Gum disease, otherwise known as periodontal disease, is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Even so, education around how to treat and prevent this problem is limited and rarely talked about.
Gum disease comes in various severities and is graded on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being very bad.
Although your teeth are anchored to your jawbone to hold them in place the gum that surrounds to tooth is just as important. Gum disease slowly kills the gums and caused them to recess, exposing more and more of the root of the tooth. It also causes the jaw bone to decay until the tooth inevitably becomes loose and falls out.
Usually a missing tooth can be replaced with a dental implant but not while gum disease still exists. This could leave you with no tooth and no options left to replace it unless you get the gum disease under control.
The best solution is to get ahead of gum disease and stop it now before it erodes the gums further.
This is the job of a hygienist. They are specially trained to clean your teeth and particularly the gum line to help keep your gums in the best condition possible. A regular hygiene appointment means your hygienist can keep an eye on your gums and if they spot the early signs of gum disease, do something about it before it gets worse.
Benefits of regular dental hygiene visits:
- Your teeth appear brighter and cleaner
- Your gums remain healthy and free of gum disease
Warning signs of gum disease
One of the key warning signs is bleeding from the gums. If you are making a conscious effort to clean your teeth and floss your gums, you should not see any bleeding from the gums.
If you fall behind on this, which many patients often do, you may notice some bleeding may occur when you clean your teeth. This may mean that you require a dental hygiene to remove some of the plaque that may have set in.
People who experience the following can be at higher risk of gum disease:
- Smoking – Although less common now than it used to be, smoking causes a build-up of tartar in the mouth that can cause irritation of the gums and lead to gum disease.
- Dental Neglect – Choosing not to visit the dentist on a regular occasion is the number one cause of gum disease, as if the issue had been identified earlier, it could have been kept under control.
- Heart Disease & Stroke – The bacteria in the mouth enters the body and studies have found that when it combines with other chemicals in the body it can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
- Diabetic – As it is much harder for diabetics to control their blood sugar levels they also have an increased risk of gum disease.