Maintaining optimal oral health requires more than just brushing and flossing. It also involves preemptively and proactively caring for your gums. To this end, periodontal treatment, which addresses gum disease, plays a vital corrective and preventive role in maintaining the supporting structures of your smile and bite.
Let's explore how periodontal treatment leads to healthier gums, stronger teeth, and an improved quality of life!
Understanding Periodontal (Gum) Disease
Periodontal disease is typically characterized by swelling, inflammation, and infection of the gum tissue surrounding a person’s teeth. Gum disease often stems from poor dental hygiene practices that allow plaque and tartar (untreated, hardened plaque) to build up on the teeth and along the gumline. Once plaque, a bacterial film, hardens into tartar, it cannot be removed by at-home measures and requires professional intervention to prevent early gum disease, or gingivitis.
If gingivitis is not treated, it progresses to periodontitis, a more severe stage of gum disease. Periodontitis causes gums to pull away from the teeth and creates pockets that can become infected. Over time, these infections can erode gum tissue and bone density in the jaw, and cause tooth decay and, eventually, tooth loss.
Periodontal Treatment and Its Benefits
Periodontal treatment aims to reverse the effects of gum disease. In milder cases, scaling and root planing, a non-surgical deep cleaning procedure in which teeth and their roots are cleaned to remove plaque and tartar, will suffice. More severe cases, however, can require surgical procedures like gum flap surgery, in which plaque and tartar are removed from beneath the gumline.
Periodontal treatment prevents further damage to gums and supporting structures, ensuring healthier anchor points for teeth. This is crucial for overall health, as severe periodontal issues have been linked to heart disease and diabetes.
Periodontal Treatment With Compassion and Care in West Chester, OH
If you’re in West Chester, whether you’re looking to ensure overall oral health with periodontal treatment, post-tooth loss bite integrity with full or partial dentures, or vital emergency dentistry when you need it, contact Dr. Joel R. Koch and the excellent team here at Joel R. Koch, DDS to vhttps://www.joelrkochdds.com/contact!