What causes gum disease?

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Gum disease is a bacterial infection caused by a buildup of plaque. When left on your teeth untreated this leads to the earliest form of gum disease: gingivitis. However, gum disease is preventable! You can reduce plaque build up by flossing, brushing, and attending dental checkups. Other causes of gum disease includes smoking and chewing tobacco leading to more severe gum disease. This bacteria causes irritation and infection making the gums to become inflamed and bleed. If gingivitis is not treated, it can advance to periodontal disease. Some common symptoms of periodontal disease are: bleeding gums, bad breath, loose or shifting teeth, gums that have receded (shrunk) and make the teeth appear longer Periodontal disease has two stages: gingivitis and periodontitis.

1. Gingivitis: When the gums become red and swollen, and bleed easily. Gingivitis is treatable and can be eliminated by daily brushing and flossing.
2. Periodontitis: If gingivitis is not treated, then it becomes periodontitis. This is when the gums and bone that support the teeth are damaged leading to tooth and bone loss.

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How does gum disease affect your health?

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Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss among adults and has also been associated to:

• Bad breath
• Heart disease and stroke
• Osteoporosis
• Respiratory infections
• Diabetes
• Pre-term & low birth-weight babies
• Gum recession or receding gums

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How do we treat gum disease?

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Gum disease treatment varies. There are non-surgical treatments such as at-home periodontal trays, and scaling and root planing (deep cleaning) as well as periodontal surgery and laser gum surgery. We provide the latest modern treatments for treating gum disease:

• Pinhole Surgical Technique
• Micro-Periodontal-Surgery
• Tunneling gum graft
• Applications of growth factors
• Applications of periodontal chemotherapeutics
• Treatment of receding gums
• Laser

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What are symptoms of gum disease?

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It is sometimes easy to diagnose gum disease:

• Bad breath
• Bad taste
• Gums bleed easily
• Gums are tender
• Gums receded from your teeth
• Permanent teeth become loose

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How do you prevent gum disease?

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Early detection is the key to avoiding costly and painful dental treatment. Prevention begins with the control of dental plaque and calculus, the main cause of dental decay and periodontal disease. In fact, the major cause of tooth loss in adults is gum disease, which is known as the silent killer of teeth. Most patients feel no symptoms until it's too late. With regular dental visits, we can treat gum disease at an early stage, before it gets out of hand, and help you keep your teeth for life.

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Endodontic retreatment

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There are cases when a tooth that has been treated with a root canal doesn't heal properly and produces pain. If this is happening to you, endodontic retreatment may be a great choice. The goal of endodontic retreatment is to give your tooth a second chance at healing properly ultimately saving your tooth.

During endodontic retreatment a few steps will occur:

1. We will remove the canal filling

2. Examine the canals for abnormalities

3. Clean the canals, seal, and place a filling

Once the process is completed a new crown or restoration will be placed on the tooth to restore it back to its full function and look. However, if we see that the canals are very narrow, we may perform an endodontic surgery to further complete the endodontic retreatment.

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What is gum recession?

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Gum recession is the process in which your gum tissue surrounding your teeth wears off and exposes more of the tooth including the tooth's root. When gum recession occurs, gaps form between the teeth and gum line. This results in bacteria that begins to build up and causes decay.

Gum recession can be stopped with proper treatment, oral hygiene and specialized dental attention.

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