Learn All About Gum Disease

If you have gum disease, then you don't want to put off treatment. The longer you go without it being properly treated, the more damage it can cause and the increased risk there is of future problems. This article will educate you on the signs of gum disease, the potential problems associated with it and the treatment for it.

What are the signs of gum disease?

Bad breath that isn't caused by something you ate, smoking, drinking alcohol or other contributing factors can be a sign of gum disease. You may also notice that your gums are red and/or swollen. This is another sign you may have gum disease that you may be lucky enough to spot right away.

As the gum disease progresses, there will be more obvious signs of a problem. Your gums may start to bleed, especially when you are brushing your teeth. It may become painful for you to chew your food. As more time goes on, your teeth may even become loose and your gums can recede, which will give you the appearance of longer teeth.

What are the potential problems of gum disease?

Along with dealing with the symptoms listed above, there are other problems that can come from untreated gum disease.

Your gums can deteriorate, eventually exposing the nerves of your teeth. This can cause you a tremendous amount of tooth sensitivity and pain. It can also affect your jaw bone, and you will have to undergo bone grafts to correct this issue if it gets this far. Also, you can lose your teeth, and with damage to your gums and bone, it can be challenging to find a good permanent replacement for those teeth.

You will also be more prone to getting an infection. An infection will need to be treated with a course of antibiotics to prevent it from spreading to more parts of your body, which can affect your overall health and well being.

What are the treatments for gum disease?

If you catch the problem early on, then treatment may consist of medication and a deep cleaning. However, the treatment can become more invasive as the problem progresses.

The next step may be flap surgery in which the dentist will perform a surgery that consists of peeling back a portion of your gum to remove tartar that's deep in them.  

For severe conditions, you may be looking at tissue and bone grafting surgery to help regenerate gum or bone loss that occurred. Bone grafting uses other bone to replace bone gone in certain areas. Tissue grafting is done the same way, only with other tissue.

Now that you have a better understanding of the negative effects of ignoring gum disease, you will see why it's so important to get in for treatment as soon as you detect a problem. One person you can talk to is Bonnie Marshall S.