What is periodontitis?
Periodontitis is a serious infection of the gums. It’s caused by bacteria that have been allowed to accumulate on your teeth and gums. As periodontitis progresses, your bones and teeth can be damaged. However, if periodontitis is treated early and proper oral hygiene is maintained, the damage can be stopped.
What are the stages of periodontitis?
Periodontitis starts as inflammation and gets worse over time.
Inflammation (gingivitis)
Periodontitis begins with inflammation in the gums known as gingivitis. One of the first signs of gingivitis is that your gums will bleed when you brush or floss your teeth.
You might also notice some discoloration on your teeth. This is called plaque. Plaque is a buildup of bacteria and food debris on your teeth. Although bacteria are always present in your mouth, they only become harmful when conditions allow them to increase dramatically. This might happen if you don’t brush or floss, or get dental cleanings on a regular basis.
Early periodontal disease
In the early stages of periodontitis, your gums recede, or pull away, from your teeth and small pockets form between gums and teeth. The pockets harbor harmful bacteria. Your immune system tries to fight the infection, and your gum tissue starts to recede. You’ll likely experience bleeding during brushing and flossing as well, and possibly some bone loss.
Moderate periodontal disease
If left to progress to moderate periodontal disease, you might experience bleeding and pain around the teeth and gum recession. Your teeth will begin to lose bone support and become loose. The infection can also lead to an inflammatory response throughout your body.
Advanced periodontal disease
In advanced disease, the connective tissue that holds your teeth in place begins to deteriorate. The gums, bones, and other tissue that support your teeth are destroyed. If you have advanced periodontitis, you might experience severe pain while chewing, severe bad breath, and a foul taste in your mouth. You’ll likely lose your teeth.
Treatment is aimed at removing plaque and bacterial deposits on your teeth and gums.
Oral hygiene practices
Your dental care team will give you instructions on how to reduce the number of bacteria in your mouth, which involves keeping your teeth and gums clean. Your dentist will give you advice on how to use tooth brushes and dental floss properly, and may recommend other oral hygiene products like a water pick or mouthwash.
Here are a few tips for keeping your teeth healthy:
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste.
- Consider using an electric toothbrush, which may be more effective.
- Floss at least once a day to remove plaque.
- Visit your dentist at least twice a year for a professional cleaning.
- Don’t smoke or chew tobacco.
Professional cleanings
During a professional cleaning, your dentist will remove plaque buildup and tartar from your teeth and their roots, and then polish your teeth and treat them with fluoride. Any periodontal pockets that have formed could require deep cleaning to enable healing. A deep-cleaning method called scaling and root planing will help scrape off tartar and also remove any rough spots on the tooth root where bacteria tend to gather.
Antibiotics
In some cases, your dentist will prescribe antibiotics to help with persistent gum infections that haven’t responded to cleanings. The antibiotic might be in the form of a mouthwash, gel, or an oral tablet or capsule.
Follow-up appointments
Your dentist will want to follow up with you after a few weeks, and then about every three to six months after that to assess your progress. If periodontal pockets are still present, the dental team may recommend other treatment options, like surgery.
Dental Implants
Emergency Care
Teeth whitening
Dental Family Plan
We specialize in beautifying smiles, maintaining your dental health, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, veneers, crowns and other advanced services. Our experienced and friendly staff takes great pride in keeping our patient’s smiles perfect along with their general dental health.
To prove it, we always stand behind our promise that all the veneers, fillings, crowns, and bridges we create will look as good as or better than the teeth nature gave you. Our practice can keep that promise, because all the products we recommend and use are the highest quality available and inherently incredibly durable. You can trust your whole family’s smile with us.
Our dentist
Kalliroi Chatzaki DDS
Vicky Desylla
