Periodontics, healthy and strong gums
“… because I let you know Sancho... the mouth without teeth is like a windmill without stone. And a tooth has to be estimated in much more than a diamond…”
Periodontics deals with the treatment of the gums and the supporting bone of the teeth. Her disease causes, in advanced stages, the loss of teeth. Therefore, it’s of vital importance to diagnose and treat periodontal pathology in its initial stages.
Many people are not aware that they have gum problems because these diseases do not cause pain, so their diagnosis is almost always late.
What are the warning signs of this disease?
- Redness of the gums
- Bleeding from the gums when brushing teeth or spontaneously
- Gum retraction, with the feeling of longer teeth
- Increased tooth sensitivity, especially to cold
- Mobility or teeth separation
- Burning sensation and gum discomfort
- Bad breath and bad taste
- Appearance of abscesses and phlegmons in the gum, with pain in the area
If you think you have any of these symptoms, our specialist and periodontics master from the University of Barcelona, Dr. Sarriegui will indicate you the most appropriate treatment to combat this disease, restore health to the tissues and chew again and smile calmly.
Periodontal disease encompasses several different situations.
The two most important and frequent are:
Gingivitis: inflammation of the gums, with redness, possible bleeding when brushing, change of the profile with retraction and exposure of the roots.
Periodontitis: after untreated gingivitis, the teeth supporting bone can be affected, which are destroyed, leaving the tooth unsupported and weak. Teeth can move, bother chewing, and appear gaps between teeth.
The therapeutic approach will depend on a correct diagnosis, both in the type of periodontal disease, as well as the stage in which it’s found and what factors make it stronger.
There are treatments to stop the disease itself, curettage and basic periodontal surgery, and others to regenerate lost support tissue as much as possible, regenerative peridontontal surgery.
Curetages help us to remove the biofilm and the calculus (also known as dental plaque) that has invaded the root surfaces and caused bone resorption. If this invasion is extensive and has generated very deep pockets, we will have to consider a second surgical approach to access the deeper calculus.
Once the gums health is restored, the periodontist’s maintenance and control of the disease is equally important with periodic visits that will be individually marked with the patient.
Regenerative periodontal surgery, tries as its name suggests, to regenerate the lost bone tissue to improve the prognosis of the affected pieces in long term.
Frequent asked questions
No. Bleeding from the gums is one of the warning signs of periodontal disease. This bleeding is usually due to inflammation caused by the plaque accumulation between the teeth and the gum.
On many occasions, patients tell us they stop brushing their teeth because that bleeding scares them. On the contrary, in bleeding situations brushing in this area should be more insistent to minimize what this situation causes us, although is the professional who will give a definitive solution to this situation.
To prevent periodontal disease, you must remove dental plaque from your teeth and gums daily, that is, brush properly and use some interdental hygiene instrument (silk floss, interproximal brush, water jet).
Also, make a regular visit to the dentist to remove accumulated dental plaque before it hurts. It’s very difficult for oneself to perform a complete removal of dental plaque because dirt and calculus not only accumulates on the teeth, also between the gums and teeth.
Although our oral hygiene is exquisite, we will need the help of a professional to eliminate the plaque accumulations that are deposited.
Studies show that tobacco is one of the most significant risk factors in the development of periodontal disease.
Smokers are more likely to develop stones around the teeth, to develop deeper pockets between the gum and the tooth, and to destroy the tissues that support the teeth.
Tobacco alters the local defenses in the gum area and allows the accumulated bacteria to be more aggressive. The immune system comes later and weakened allowing bacterial dental plaque to act, with further damage to the preservation of teeth.
In addition, the components of tobacco (tar, nicotine, etc …) cause the bone that supports the teeth be altered in a way of bone resorption and, therefore, may cause the functionality of these teeth be altered.
All smoking patients who undergo a treatment, be it periodontics, surgery, implants, etc … it’s important they are aware that tobacco can very negatively affect the success of the performed treatment.
Periodontal disease is bacterial in origin and therefore transmissible or contagious through saliva. But for this happens, the recipient has to be genetically susceptible to these bacteria.
This implies that when a person comes into contact with contaminated saliva, there is a risk of contracting periodontal disease.
Therefore, it’s not surprising that entire families undergo periodontal treatment. It’s recommended when a person is diagnosed with the disease, their relatives undergo a review.