Preventing gum disease can protect your teeth as well as your heart and lungs. Gum disease can take the form of swollen, inflamed gums, or severe infection leading to bone loss and tooth loss, as well as heart disease and gum disease.
This is why we take your daily oral health care and your ongoing dental cleanings and checkups so seriously. Keeping your gums healthy is our top priority.
This means practicing continuous good oral hygiene at home and seeing your dentist regularly. This is the very foundation of good oral health. Beyond that, depending on the severity of your gum disease, other steps may be needed. Let’s take a look:
In the early stage, called gingivitis, you can often reverse gum disease, but once it has advanced, you may need more invasive measures to prevent bone and tooth loss.
Treatment 1- involves brushing (at least twice a day) and flossing between teeth and around the gumline at least once. The goal is to control plaque buildup. You may need to add an oral rinse to your routine to control plaque. Triclosan is both antibacterial and antifungal, and can remove plaque and treat the inflamed gum tissue.
Treatment 2- whatever the level of gum disease, you will need to brush and floss every single day. Brushing twice a day, and flossing once goes a long way towards managing plaque development. You can boost your protection by using a mouthwash with fluoride to protect your tooth enamel and triclosan to control plaque formation and treat the inflammation. This is an antibacterial and antifungal agent.
Treatment 3- you might be prescribed a topical antiseptic which kills bacteria which infects the gums. Using penicillin, an antibiotic agent kills harmful microorganisms.
Treatment 4- oral surgery may be needed to remove infected gum tissue and allow healing. Gingivectomy removes diseased gum tissue, and gingivoplasty reshapes healthy gum tissue and reshapes it around the teeth.
If you have any questions or concerns about your gums, please call Orlando Periodontics & Implants at 407-277-3300. Our periodontist, Dr. Michael H. Connor and team in Orlando, Florida are more than happy to help support your oral health!