Fight gum disease before it’s too late protect your oral foundation and ensure it’s healthy enough for implantation.
The primary cause of gum disease is plaque. Plaque is a sticky substance made up of many types of bacteria.
This means it is hard to brush away once built up on teeth. It is the same colour as our teeth (creamy white), so it is also hard to see!
Saliva can mineralise plaque and turn it into tartar (calculus) which cannot be brushed off but, a professional cleaning with a dentist or hygienist therapist will remove it.
Everyone has plaque bacteria in their mouths, to some level, depending on oral hygiene habits. If a person misses brushing plaque away in an area of their mouth, after a few days, their gum starts to become puffy and inflamed.
This is the body’s defence mechanism trying to fight off the bacteria. It sends blood cells to the area, making their gums puffy with all the extra blood cells, which means they will bleed easily if touched.
At this stage, the gum disease is reversible, although if gingivitis is left untreated, it can cause gum recession (shrinkage).
Gingivitis is a bit like inflating a rubber ring around each tooth. It makes it more difficult to clean your teeth at the time, but with excellent home care, once a person’s body is happy with the plaque level present, the rubber ring will deflate, and the gum can return to being healthy.
A visit to a dental hygienist therapist is the best way to get a diagnosis and treatment of gum disease.
If gingivitis, the first stage of gum disease, is left untreated, it can progress to another type of gum disease called periodontitis.
Periodontitis is the irreversible loss of the supporting structure of a person’s tooth.
The supporting structure is made up of gum fibres, ligaments and bone.
Other bacteria have now joined the plaque, which means the plaque bacteria can move underneath a person’s gums. This makes the natural pocket around the tooth deeper.
Imagine your tooth is your wrist, and your sleeve is your gum circling the tooth. If you hold your sleeve tight, put your finger down your sleeve until you cannot see the tip of your finger; this is a pocket.
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