Brushing and flossing your teeth and gum line every day goes a long way to preserving your healthy, beautiful smile. Taking care of your smile can help keep tooth decay and gum disease away. Did you know that gum disease can cause your teeth to fall out? Let’s take a look at the stages of gum disease and their effect on your oral health.
Early Stage
The early stage of gum disease is called gingivitis. This mild form of gum disease is easily treated and reversed. At this point, the gums can be inflamed, swell, redden, and bleed easily. Brushing and flossing to remove oral bacteria and plaque, along with dental cleanings to remove hardened plaque (tartar) can restore your gums to good health.
Advanced Stage
Gingivitis that isn’t treated will continue to advance until more and more damage is done. Continued inflammation of the gums progresses until the inflammation spreads below the gumline and creating pockets. These spaces allow bacteria and plaque to damage the supportive bone material and ligaments that keep your teeth in place. This ultimately results in the teeth becoming loose and needing to be removed.
Signs of gum disease include bleeding, receding, red, tender and swollen gum tissue. You may experience tooth sensitivity, pain when chewing, and loose teeth. You may also have bad breath that never seems to go away.
Early treatment is most effective in halting this progressive disease, and can save your teeth! At your dental evaluation, we can review your history to rule out underlying conditions or risk factors that might contribute to gum disease. This may include smoking, poor diet, genetics, or medications, illnesses or medical conditions.
To schedule an evaluation with our dentist, Dr. Sheila Poetti, please call Cloverleaf Dental Center in Meriden, Connecticut, at 203-634-8727 today.