February 1, 2023
Certain Factors That Can Increase the Risk for Gum Disease
Gum disease is a severe infection of the gums that can damage the soft tissue and, without treatment, destroys the bone supporting the teeth. Periodontitis also causes teeth to loosen and result in tooth loss.
Periodontitis is a common infection affecting many but is largely preventable. If you develop periodontitis, your chances of successful treatment for the condition improve significantly and reduce your chances of developing it again.
What Are the Main Causes of Gum Disease?
The primary cause of gum disease is generally poor oral hygiene. Brushing twice daily, flossing once, and getting six-monthly dental checkups significantly prevent your chances of developing this condition. The causes of gum disease besides the above include:
- Plaque Formation on Your Teeth: When your mouth bacteria interact with sugars and starches in your food, it results in plaque formation on your teeth. Brushing your teeth twice per day and flossing once helps remove plaque which forms quickly again on your teeth.
- Plaque Hardening into Tartar: If plaque remains on your teeth without dental care in Frisco, TX, it hardens into tartar. Tartar is challenging to remove by brushing and needs professional help. In addition, plaque and tartar can cause considerable damage the longer they remain on your teeth. Unless you get a professional cleaning from the Frisco dentist, you will find getting rid of plaque and tartar challenging.
- Plaque Causes Gingivitis: the mildest version of gum disease is gingivitis which irritates and inflames part of your gum tissue around your tooth’s base. Gingivitis is best reversed with professional treatment and excellent home care.
- Ongoing Gum Inflammation Results in Periodontitis: Ongoing gum inflammation eventually causes pockets between your teeth and gums, filling them with plaque, bacteria, and tartar. With time the pockets deepen and fill with more bacteria. If left untreated, this deep infection causes bone and tissue loss making you lose one or more teeth, besides putting a strain on your immune system.
Risk Factors of Severe Gum Disease
Some factors that increase your risk of severe gum disease periodontitis include the following:
Poor oral health habits with smoking or chewing tobacco can result in gingivitis, besides hormonal changes associated with pregnancy or menopause. Recreational use of drugs like smoking marijuana or vaping is also a reason for this problem besides obesity, genetics, and certain medications that result in xerostomia or dry mouth, or gum changes.
In addition, inadequate nutrition, including vitamin C deficiency and systemic diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn’s disease, besides conditions resulting in decreased immunity from conditions like leukemia, HIV/AIDS, and cancer treatment, can also cause severe gum disease.
What Are the Most Common Gum Diseases?
The most common gum diseases include gingivitis causing inflammation of the gums, resulting in bleeding when brushing and flossing your teeth. In addition, you might notice discoloration on your teeth from plaque buildup. The buildup occurs if you don’t brush and floss or get dental cleanings at six-monthly intervals.
When you don’t receive professional attention for gingivitis, the infection progresses to early periodontal disease when your gums start causing small pockets to form between your teeth and gums. The pockets contain harmful bacteria, and as your immune system starts fighting the infection, your gum tissue starts to recede. Bleeding during brushing, flossing, and bone loss are familiar symptoms of early periodontal disease.
If early periodontal disease is left untreated, it progresses to moderate periodontal disease, causing you to experience pain and bleeding around your teeth besides gum recession. In addition, your teeth start losing support to loosen, and the infection results in an inflammatory response throughout your body.
If you ignore moderate periodontal disease without seeking
gum disease treatment in Frisco, TX, the condition progresses to advanced periodontal disease when the connective tissue holding your teeth starts to deteriorate. Destruction of the gums, bones and other tissues supporting your teeth also occurs. As a result, you will likely experience severe pain when chewing, halitosis, and an awful taste in your mouth, and start losing teeth.
What Is a Severe Gum Disease?
Advanced periodontal disease is the most severe of the four versions of gum disease because no dental treatment for periodontal disease of the aggressive kind is yet developed. Therefore you must rely on excellent dental hygiene practices, professional cleanings, and antibiotics besides regular follow-up appointments after every few weeks before returning to quarterly or six monthly meetings with the Frisco dentist to manage this severe infection. You may also require surgery if the inflammation persists in areas of your mouth, making them inaccessible to brushing and flossing.
Gum disease is preventable in the early stages when it can be reversed by getting regular dental checkups. However, you will need frequent dental exams and cleanings if you allow the condition to progress to advanced periodontitis, which can be treated but cannot be cured. Therefore the better option is to maintain dental hygiene appropriately and schedule regular visits to the Frisco dentist for exams and cleanings.
If you notice your teeth and gums bleeding when brushing and flossing, kindly do not waste time but visit Regina Y Powe, DDS, for exams and cleanings because you may have gum disease best prevented in the early stages. A consultation with the dentist will help you avoid a severe infection without a cure from affecting you.
