Periodontal gum disease is a serious condition that results in severe problems for your teeth and your mouth. It’s not something you get immediately. Instead, it progresses through different stages before it finally makes your teeth drop out of their place.
It all begins with accumulating plaque on your teeth. The plaque is a hard coating on the teeth that attracts bacteria. Once the bacteria start acting on your teeth and gums and begin causing decay, you have progressed to gingivitis. If you don’t stop the progression there, gingivitis quickly goes on to become periodontal gum disease.
Periodontal (gum) disease is insidious. It is an infection of the gums that starts out as plaque, an opaque film on the teeth that hardens to form tartar. As tartar accumulates, it harbors bacteria that attack the soft tissue around the gums. This is the early stage of gum disease known as Gingivitis. Left untreated, Gingivitis becomes Periodontitis which ultimately destroys the tissue surrounding your teeth AND the bone that holds your teeth in place. Except for bad breath and gums that bleed, there are very few early warning signals. The disease advances silently, often without pain, and before you know it, you are losing your teeth and you don’t know why.
Tooth loss is only the most obvious indicator of gum disease. Scientific research has discovered linkage between gum disease and stroke, heart disease, diabetes – even an increased risk for pregnant women. When your gums become diseased, your entire immune system is weakened.
In the past, fear of painful dental surgery has kept people with gum disease from seeking the care they needed. Well, those days are gone forever.
Periodontal gum disease is a serious disease and, if caught late, often untreatable. It destroys your gums and acts on your teeth as well, decaying the bone that that holds the teeth in their place. Once that bone has been fully decayed, your teeth begin falling out and there’s no way of stopping that.
The worst part of periodontal gum disease and its stages is the fact that there are no symptoms that can warn you about them. Bleeding gums and bad breath are the most common ones, but they can be caused by many other oral problems as well.
To make sure that you are not affected by this awful disease, perform the basic oral health necessities and have your teeth checked out by professionals as often as possible. If you want the best people on the job making sure your teeth and gums are healthy, contact your Old Bridge dentist now.
