Periodontal Treatments
Gums are important factors that affect oral health as much as the teeth; they surround the teeth and support functions such as chewing and speaking. Healthy gums are pink in color and have a hard structure. Healthy gums that are firmly attached to the gums do not bleed easily. You can easily determine if there is a problem with your gums. If you often experience bleeding while brushing your teeth and see that your gums are dark red and swollen when you look in the mirror, you need to see a dentist immediately.
What Are the Gum Diseases?
Gum diseases are bacterial infections that occur in periodontal tissues. Gum diseases are often not noticed for many years, as they do not cause pain unless they reach a very advanced degree. Gum disease can affect one or more teeth. Untreated gum diseases can cause even healthy teeth to fall out due to loss of tissue and support.
Gum diseases are evaluated in two stages as gingivitis and periodontitis.
Gingivitis
Gum diseases begin with bacterial plaques forming an infection on the gums. It is very difficult to detect the disease at this stage. Gingivitis is the stage in which gum disease has progressed slightly. Although there is inflammation in the gums at this stage, there is no inflammation in the bone that supports the teeth.
The most common of the symptoms of gingivitis is bleeding of the gums while brushing teeth. If you have healthy teeth and gums and brush your teeth properly using a soft toothbrush, your gums will not bleed. Therefore, recurrent gingival bleeding is the first sign of gingivitis. At this stage, the bleeding gums are now visibly red, swollen, and shiny, but there is no pain.
If gingivitis is not treated, it turns into periodontitis. The most effective method in the treatment of gingivitis is tartar removal. The dentist cleans all tartars, including those under the gums, with a vibrating cavitron instrument to get rid of tartar and plaque formation that causes gingivitis,
In cases where tartar cleaning is not sufficient, the root surface straightening method known as curettage is used among the people.
Periodontitis
At this stage, the gums no longer bleed not only while brushing, but also spontaneously. The gums are even redder and more swollen. Bad smell, bad taste, and pain occur in the mouth. Since unhealthy gums are not treated in periodontitis, gingival recession and tooth loss occur accordingly. As the root surface of the tooth is exposed as a result of gingival recession, the teeth may be sensitive to hot and cold.
If the periodontitis has not progressed enough to cause tooth loss, tartar removal and root surface flattening methods used in the treatment of gingivitis may also be sufficient at this stage. However, in the treatment of advanced periodontitis, a surgical procedure is needed to prevent tooth loss.
How Does Gum Disease Occur?
Gingivitis occurs as a result of dental plaque and tartar on the gums. This tartar and dental plaque may be formed by the effect of food residues accumulating between teeth and gums due to not cleaning the teeth well enough, and some people may be genetically predisposed to tartar and plaque formation. Smoking is one of the most harmful habits that cause plaque and tartar formation. Gum diseases are more common in diabetics, pregnant women, and adolescents.