From poor oral hygiene to a family history of periodontal problems, a lot of factors could lead to gum disease. While the issue cannot be cured, routine treatment can usually manage it and protect your smile from serious complications, such as adult tooth loss. In today’s blog, we look at how your El Paso, TX, dentists treat periodontal disease.
Don’t Ignore Your Bleeding Gums
When you begin to experience the potential warning signs of trouble, let us know right away. Soreness, redness, swelling, receding gums, and bleeding gums when you brush and floss could all point the inflammation, also known as gingivitis, or the early stages of gum disease. At this stage treatment could reverse gingivitis or manage gum disease to prevent the advanced stage from occurring. Periodontitis, the advanced stage of the disease, could lead to the connective tissues between your gums and teeth breaking down, causing adult tooth loss.
Scaling and Root Planing
For the early stages of periodontal trouble, we may suggest a deep cleaning, also known as a scaling and root planing. The procedure involves the dentist removing plaque buildup from the surface of the teeth and from the root surfaces as well. The procedure could take one to four visits to complete, depending on the extent of your inflammation and buildup. The procedure is completed with a thorough polishing, and helps restore health to the gums. Afterward, routine visits every three to four months for traditional dental cleanings can help protect your smile and manage the disease. At home, you should also be brushing twice a day and flossing as well, which helps control inflammation in between cleaning appointments.
Contouring
For more severe cases, we may need to actually remove infected and diseased tissue from the gums. To do this, we will perform a gum contouring. Often used in cosmetic capacities to improve the shade of the gum line and address gummy smiles, we can also use this as a treatment for more severe cases of gum disease, allowing healthy tissue to adhere to the teeth and prevent periodontitis from occurring. If you have any questions about this procedure or about our scaling and root planing, then contact our team today. If you experience the warning signs we discussed above, then let us know. Our team can help you enjoy a healthier smile and avoid the serious complications of untreated periodontal disease.
SUNNY SMILES IN EL PASO PROVIDES PERIO TREATMENT
At Sunny Smiles in El Paso, TX, we have the skills and treatments to help safeguard your gum health and manage serious periodontal issues. If you have question about our preventive care, then please call our East El Paso location on N. Zaragoza Road at 915-849-9000!