Gum Disease
Periodontal disease (gum disease) begins without warning. In early stages, gum disease causes redness, halitosis (bad breath), and sore gums that bleed easily. As the disease progresses, the disease silently attacks bone structure around the roots of your teeth, teeth loosen and are eventually lost.
Gum Disease: Serious But Treatable
At least 80% of the population has some degree of gum disease and most don’t know it. Gum disease is responsible for up to 70% of adult tooth loss, and it does not give clear warning signs that an untrained eye would notice. A dentist or hygienist must do a thorough and complete examination to detect it; especially in the early stages. Gum disease is similar to high blood pressure, or heart disease, by the time the person who has it notices symptoms it is in its advanced stages.
Gum disease has been implicated as causative factor in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, pre-mature births, and low birth weight. It is an infection of the gums and jawbones. The bacteria,and chemical by-products of your bodies attempt to fight the bacteria, can enter the blood stream and cause serious problems in distant parts of the body. It is critical to have the teeth cleaned and a thorough examination a minimum of twice a year, and it is critical that you do a thorough job at home cleaning the teeth twice daily. The good news is that gum disease can be treated and prevented. Today there are numerous aids available to help us, which include special toothbrushes, toothpastes, rinses and even prescription medications can help. Your dentist can decide the appropriate treatment method only after examination of your condition.
Because the health of your gums is vitally important to your overall health, we incorporate a careful regime of gum evaluation into each continuing care visit. If you show indications of gum disease, Dr. Williams and his hygienist will discuss recommended treatment with you. He and his team are highly trained to treat gum disease and will restore your gums to a healthy state. When appropriate, they provide a conservative and non-surgical approach to treating the disease.
- Charting and Diagnostic Services
- Non-surgical and Surgical Periodontal Therapy
- Scaling and root planing - We first do a thorough cleaning to remove the plaque and calculus from your teeth above and below the gum line. Then we plane the roots of your teeth, smoothing them so that the gum tissue can attach more firmly to them.
- Electric toothbrushes – Dr. Williams encourages the use of any type of electric toothbrush. We believe that the results you achieve when cleaning your teeth with an electric toothbrush are better than any you can get with a traditional handheld toothbrush.
We recommend for our patients to use an electric toothbrush, especially in conjunction with non-surgical periodontal therapy. Although an electric toothbrush is more expensive that a traditional toothbrush, Dr. Williams and his staff feel it is money well spent because it does a much better job of cleaning your teeth. We have the recommended electric brushes in the office that you can purchase for your convenience.
