What Is Gum Disease?

Gum disease is also called periodontal disease because it’s an infection of the area around your teeth (“perio-” means “around” and “-dontal” means “teeth”). Oral bacteria infect the space between your gums and teeth. As these bacteria grow and produce waste, they can irritate and damage your gums. The infection expands the space around your teeth, exposing your tooth roots and making room for more bacteria. As gum disease worsens, you will experience receding gums and bone loss around the teeth, eventually leading to tooth loss. Many symptoms and complications are related not to the bacteria themselves, but to the body’s response to infection. The good news is that a visit to your family dentist in Naples, FL can help.

Minor issues are actually very common and is referred to as “gingivitis.” Although it’s not healthy, many people have gingivitis for years and never see it develop into the more serious form: periodontitis. Periodontitis is associated with the most serious consequences for your teeth and your overall health. If you have periodontitis, seek professional care at your first opportunity.

Signs and Symptoms

One of the challenges of recognizing gum disease is that its symptoms may initially be subtle. They become highly visible only when the condition is serious. 

Symptoms of gingivitis include:

  • Red gums
  • Inflamed gums
  • Tender gums when you brush, floss, or eat
  • Bleeding gums when you brush, floss, or eat
  • Chronic bad breath

These symptoms indicate that you might benefit from treatment. Make sure you’re being diligent about your oral hygiene routine and mention symptoms at your next regular dental checkup. If you’re overdue for a checkup, schedule one immediately. 

Also, be on the lookout for symptoms that indicate your gum disease is worsening into periodontitis. Symptoms of periodontitis include:

  • Gums that hurt or bleed spontaneously
  • Food getting stuck between gums and teeth
  • Receding gums, which you can identify by:
    • Teeth looking longer
    • Appearance of black triangles around teeth
    • Visible tooth root: more yellow and rough, not white and smooth
  • Tooth sensitivity to temperature
  • Pus between teeth and gums
  • Painful chewing
  • A change in the way your teeth fit together
  • Loose teeth

When you experience these symptoms, it’s important to schedule a dental appointment as soon as possible. Periodontitis not only threatens your teeth, but it can also threaten your overall health if left untreated.

Gum Disease Treatment Options

Luckily, gum disease is manageable through one of several possible forms of treatment. Which one is right for you depends on the severity of your gum disease. 

Minor Gum Disease: Improved Hygiene and Cleanings

The best treatment is to improve your oral hygiene, where this includes scheduling regular professional cleanings. During your checkup, our hygienist will identify areas that aren’t getting cleaned adequately. They’ll call your attention to these areas and may give you tips for cleaning them better. This may include recommendations for different tools that make it easier to clean your teeth. Also, if you’re not already brushing twice a day and flossing every day, now’s the time to start. 

We may also recommend making additional appointments for professional cleaning rather than waiting six months. 

Perio Protect: A Powerful Nonsurgical Treatment

For moderate to severe gum disease, we offer a new form of non-surgical treatment. The Perio Tray® Perio Protect is a powerful treatment that can be used on its own or in combination with other treatments. It works by delivering antibiotics directly to your infected gums via custom trays that contain specially formulated treatment gel. 

Similar to teeth-whitening trays, Perio Protect treatment trays fit over your teeth to make sure the medication gets to the infected area. The design helps deliver the medication deep into periodontal pockets, deeper than brushing, flossing, and even rinsing can reach. The trays also keep the medication from diluting and washing away so it can maintain effectiveness to better control gum disease.

Laser Gum Treatment

When gum disease starts to get serious, we will want to intervene directly. At Massa Dental Center, we utilize laser gum treatment to clean out oral bacteria around your teeth. This approach is an alternative to traditional root planing/scaling and uses a laser to remove bacteria and deposits. The laser helps sanitize the area, killing more bacteria and promoting the growth of healthy gum tissue. 

Laser gum disease treatment offers several advantages. Compared to traditional treatment, it is:

  • Is faster
  • Is more comfortable
  • Promotes faster tissue regrowth and recovery
  • Causes less bleeding

For these reasons, people often prefer laser gum treatment to root scaling and planing. 

Gum Disease Surgery

For severe gum disease, you might need oral surgery. Gum disease surgery involves cutting into your gums to clean out infected areas and may also involve extracting teeth and grafting gum tissue from elsewhere in the mouth. In the most severe cases, you might require bone grafting. While this may sound like a lot, one of the benefits of gum disease surgery is that it can help prepare you to replace any missing teeth, serving as a step in the process towards a healthy, aesthetically pleasing smile.

Surgery can help with the most serious cases of gum disease, but it’s invasive and can require a long recovery time. It’s best to take preventive measures to stop the condition before it reaches this point.

Consequences of Untreated Gum Disease

Gum disease is a chronic infection. The bacteria that infect your gums can spread from there to other parts of the body, and the impact they have on your overall health can be significant. People with gum disease are at an elevated risk for:

  • Heart infections
  • Heart disease
  • Stroke
  • Dementia
  • Pregnancy complications
  • Pneumonia
  • Autoimmune disorders

Oral bacteria can spread from your mouth to your blood vessels, developing colonies in your arteries and even your heart. This can lead directly to heart infections and can even contribute to heart disease and stroke. 

Toxins from oral bacteria may play a significant role in developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. People with severe gum disease may develop dementia earlier and may develop more serious dementia. 

Pregnancy complications, including premature birth and low birth weight, are more common in women with gum disease. 

When you breathe, the air passes through your mouth and can carry oral bacteria into your lungs, causing infections. 

Finally, oral bacteria corrupt your immune system, keeping it from functioning properly. This can lead to autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, where your immune system attacks your joints. 

Because of all these related health conditions, studies show that treating gum disease can save thousands of dollars a year in health costs.

Get Advanced Treatment in Naples, FL

Even if you don’t have symptoms, it’s important to take the necessary steps to prevent the condition. When they do appear, get treatment as soon as possible. If you are looking for advanced gum disease treatment in Naples, FL, Massa Dental Center is here to help. Please call (239) 597-7333 to schedule an appointment and start your path to better dental health.