Gum Disease Treatment
Gum Disease and Healthy Gums
What is Gum Disease?
Gum disease is where you have lost some or all of the bone holding a tooth in your mouth. This is caused by the long term accumulation of plaque around and between the teeth.
Plaque is a film of bacteria which forms on the surface of the teeth and gums. Gum disease varies, from gingivitis which is completely reversible, to chronic periodontitis which is the main cause of tooth loss.
Gum disease usually progresses very slowly and with monitoring, advice and treatment most people are able to keep most of their teeth for life.
Gum Disease Treatment Dublin
Gum disease or Periodontitis is a complex gum issue, that needs to be screened for and diagnosed by your dentist. There are many risk factors that can place you at a higher risk for gum disease. At Camden Dental Clinic, our dentists routinely screen for gum disease for all of our patients at each dental visit.
Gum disease involves gum attachment breaking down around your teeth, creating more space between your teeth and gums. The breakdown or loss of attachment of gum, allows bacteria to seep underneath your gums, allowing tartar (hard deposits) to build up around the roots of your teeth.
In more progressed cases of gum disease, a patient can also suffer from bone loss as a side effect. Bone loss sadly is irreversible and continues to progress, if gum disease is not diagnosed and treated early. The earlier gum disease is diagnosed and treated, the better the outcome for patients and their oral health.
Periodontal Expert Dublin
What is Gingivitis:
It is important to not confuse Gingivitis with Periodontitis or Gum Disease. Gingivitis occurs when your gums become inflamed due to poor oral hygiene (cleaning).
Gingivitis is reversible and has a very positive response to treatment. Intervention can initially be a prescribed professional scale and polish, with oral health care advice from your dentist.
Gingivitis can turn into Periodontitis or Gum Disease, if it is left untreated with no intervention over time. Regular professional scale and polishes, flossing and brushing twice daily, are the best measures that can be adopted to prevent Gingivitis or for gingivitis treatment.
What to do to prevent Gum Disease?
To prevent gum disease it is essential that you attend your dentist regularly for your dental examination along with your scale and polish. It is very important that you floss daily and use Interdental cleaning devices, along with brushing twice per day at home. At The Meath Dental Clinic, our dentists enjoy teaching our patients how to prevent gum disease, and how to practice and maintain good oral health.
Cigarette smoking is an increased risk factor for gum disease. Smokers will not respond as well as non-smokers to periodontal or gum disease treatment. Therefore it is important to cease smoking if at all possible.
What will my dentist do to screen for gum disease?
When conducting a dental examination, our dentists will examine your gums and screen for gum disease or periodontitis at each dental visit. This isn’t an uncomfortable process and a gum examination can be done very painlessly and quickly at our gum clinic Dublin.
Gum Disease treatment
People often ask what is periodontal treatment. Depending on the severity and case in particular of Gum Disease, your dentist will set out a prescribed dental plan best suited to you. This is also known as periodontal treatment. This plan will be determined based on the level and scale of periodontal treatment required. Our dentists will make a tailored treatment plan to best suit each individual patient. Your dentist may need to carry out multiple specialised cleaning appointments.
This involves cleaning of the roots of your teeth, to make sure the deposits of bacteria and tartar, are removed entirely so healing can occur. This often may need to be done with the aid of a local anaesthetic, with some longer appointment times. This is not a scary procedure and our dentists pride themselves in making it pain free and comfortable for you in the dental chair. By removing tartar and bacteria, this removes the source of inflammation underneath the gums. This aids in the healing and stabilising of your gum disease. This is the best form of gum disease cure.
Gum Disease Maintenance
Gum disease involves long term maintenance with your dentist. After periodontal treatment is completed, it is advised to attend regularly for scale and polish appointments along with reviewing your gum health. These review visits may be as many as four times per year. After treatment, you initially may feel some discomfort for a few days but most patients experience little or no discomfort due to the care of our wonderful dentists.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is that patients follow the oral hygiene (cleaning) instructions. Unless plaque removal is carried out regularly, including cleaning between the teeth, then the appointments with our dentists are of little value.
What happens if gum disease is not treated?
As gum disease progresses the bone supporting the teeth can be lost. The gums and bone will become infected. This sometimes can cause bad breath and a bad taste. Eventually the teeth can become loose and may need to be removed. Gum disease usually does not hurt and can go unnoticed until it is fairly advanced. As you can see there is plenty we can do to give gum infection treatment.
Can gum disease be cured?
If you have already lost bone around the teeth, this bone unfortunately will not be able to grow back fully. If you maintain perfect cleaning and attend your review visits and cleanings, any further loss of bone should stop altogether. Sometimes the gums will have receded giving longer teeth and Gum recession treatment is also available but may need referral to a periodontist specialist in Dublin.
Why Choose Meath Dental Clinic in Dublin
We make some the best treatment for gum disease in Dublin. We are known for the best, affordable, and painless dental treatments with quick appointments and timely solutions
We Offer A Full Range Of Dental Treatments
In A Modern and Caring Environment
- Specialist led clinic with over 25 years experience
- Quality equipment for the best dental care
- Well established whole Community dentistry
- Highly trained professional staff there to help you
- Comfort throughout treatment our priority to you
- Best quality care and service