Gum disease is an inflammatory process. It’s inflammation in the gums. It’s important to get it treated early on because if we don’t treat it, it can progress quickly into something we call periodontal disease, which is inflammation surrounding the bone, not just the gums.
Periodontal disease has been correlated to a lot of systemic health conditions. There’s a lot of research out there that shows a correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and periodontal disease, congestive heart diseases, and diabetes. Periodontal disease has also been linked to preterm labor in pregnant women and low birth weights.
There’s a lot of evidence and research out there that shows that periodontal disease has an effect on systemic health as a whole, not just the mouth. Left untreated, periodontal disease can grow exponentially and it destroys a lot of the bone that surrounds your teeth. When that happens, you can get a lot of abscesses and infections around the teeth and the teeth can get very loose and it can become painful and eventually you get to the point where we have to move a lot of teeth because of it.
Gum disease is treated by going to your dentist regularly and getting cleanings. By removing the plaque buildup around the teeth, that reduces inflammation and stops the progression of the gum disease. So, patients who have periodontal disease need scaling and root cleaning.
Essentially, what that is, is removing the plaque and bacteria that is stuck to the root surfaces of the teeth under the gums. The root surface of the teeth is rough and plaque and bacteria like to stick to rough surfaces. So, what we’re doing while we’re removing this bacteria is smoothing out the root surfaces to make it difficult for plaque and bacteria to re-stick to the root surface of the teeth.
