At its worst, gum disease can do a real number on your smile. Severe cases are known to cause painful chewing, tooth loss, and even jaw erosion after a while. Even so, there’s no need to despair (yet); dentists can cure gum disease if you act quickly. That means you can prevent the condition’s worst effects before they have a chance to occur. To learn more, here’s a primer on how dentistry can often cure cases of gum disease.
Context: Gum Disease Has Stages
Before anything else, you’ll need to grasp that gum disease has stages. This point will help you see why dentists can “cure” the condition.
The two stages of gum disease are gingivitis and periodontitis. The former refers to inflammation of the gum tissue – an irritating but minor enough problem. In contrast, periodontitis is a full-blown infection that attacks and erodes your gum and jaw tissues. It can develop from gingivitis in just a few weeks or months, especially if you neglect your oral health.
Of course, only a dentist can tell for sure whether you have gingivitis or periodontitis. You should thus consult one to chart your gum disease’s severity.
Dentists Can (Somewhat) Cure Gum Disease
Having covered the points above, we can now specify how gum disease is curable. It turns out that gingivitis can be reversed with good oral care.
Indeed, the first form of gum disease can be undone. All a dentist has to do is perform some deep cleaning and remove plaque from your gumline. They’ll usually do so through scaling and root planing, which relies on instruments to scrape the bacterial film off. Some dentists will even do this work through antibiotic treatment, which applies antibiotic gels (or pills) that kill the infecting bacteria.
It’s only periodontitis that can’t be cured. Unlike gingivitis, this advanced form of gum disease is too severe to reverse; dentistry will only manage it. You should thus avoid it when possible.
Gum Disease Prevention Tips
All that said, prevention is always better than treatment. You can keep your gums free of disease with the following tips:
- Floss Frequently – By flossing daily, you can remove the plaque that causes gum disease from between your teeth.
- See Your Dentist Often – Dental checkups are the premier form of preventive oral care. As such, they can rid your smile of plaque before gum disease “sets in.”
- Eat Mouth-Healthy Foods – Lean proteins, leafy greens, and dairy products have nutrients that make gums strong. If you add them to your diet, you’ll face a lower risk of gum disease.
Since dentists can cure gum disease, don’t hesitate to see one for help. They’ll happily make your gums healthy and strong again!
About the Practice
Ornelas Family Dentistry is based in Crown Point, IN. Led by Dr. Joe Ornelas, our practice strives to give every patient the smile they truly deserve. We thus offer very comprehensive dental care, with a special emphasis on preventive, cosmetic, and restorative treatments. Our team is also ready and able to treat cases of gum disease, relying on scaling and root planing and antibiotics to do so. For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (219)-663-2892.