TL;DR
Periodontal disease is an infection of the gums, ligaments and bone around the teeth, set off by plaque left at the gumline. Its first stage, gingivitis, stays in the gums and can be reversed with a professional cleaning and better home care. Once it becomes periodontitis, bone is lost and pockets form, and that damage can be stopped but not undone without help. It is often painless, so bleeding gums are the sign to act on. At Stone Falls Dental Care in O’Fallon, Dr. Prane checks the gums at every exam so it is found while it is small.
What is periodontal disease?
Periodontal disease is a chronic infection of the structures around a tooth: the gum, the fibers that tie the root to the jaw, and the bone itself. The word periodontal simply means around the tooth, and that is exactly where the trouble lives.
It begins with plaque, the soft film of bacteria that collects along the gumline every day. Plaque that is not cleared hardens into tartar, which a toothbrush cannot remove. The bacteria release toxins, and your body answers with inflammation. In the short term that response is protective. Kept up for months and years, it starts to break down the very tissue and bone it is trying to defend.
What is the difference between gingivitis and periodontitis?
Gingivitis is inflammation confined to the gums, and it is fully reversible; periodontitis is the stage where the attachment between gum, root and bone has been lost. With gingivitis the gums look red or puffy and bleed easily, but nothing underneath has been destroyed yet. A professional cleaning and a few weeks of careful brushing and flossing usually bring the tissue back to health.
When gingivitis is left in place, the infection moves below the gumline. The gum pulls away from the root and forms a pocket, the pocket fills with bacteria a toothbrush cannot reach, and the bone that supports the tooth begins to shrink. Treatment can halt that process and keep it quiet for years. Bone that has already gone does not grow back on its own, which is why the early stage is the one worth catching.
What are the warning signs of gum disease?
Bleeding when you brush or floss is the most common early sign, and it should never be treated as normal. Healthy gums do not bleed from ordinary cleaning. Because gum disease is rarely painful until it is advanced, many people carry it for years without knowing.
- Gums that bleed when you brush, floss or eat something firm
- Red, swollen or tender gum tissue
- Bad breath or a sour taste that brushing does not fix
- Gums that seem to be pulling back, making teeth look longer
- Teeth that feel loose, have shifted or have new gaps between them
- A change in how your teeth meet when you bite
- Pus around a tooth or along the gumline
What raises the risk of gum disease?
Plaque is the cause, but certain conditions make the infection more likely to take hold and harder to control. Tobacco is the biggest of them: smokers develop gum disease more often, heal more slowly, and can have less bleeding to warn them, because smoking constricts the blood vessels in the gums.
Diabetes and gum disease work against each other. High blood sugar makes infections harder to fight, and active gum infection can make blood sugar harder to manage, so we pay close attention to both when you tell us about your health. Family history, hormonal changes in pregnancy, medications that dry the mouth, crowded teeth and old fillings or crowns with ledges that trap plaque all add to the risk as well.
Why do we check your gums at every visit?
We look at the gums at every exam because gum disease rarely announces itself and is far easier to manage when it is small. The practice’s own phrase for this is “dental health care” vs. “disease care”: finding a problem while a cleaning and better habits can still reverse it.
At Stone Falls Dental Care, an exam includes a review of your medical history and a look at how the gums respond, not only at the teeth. If something looks off, the next step is a measured periodontal exam, explained on our page about how gum disease is diagnosed. If it is confirmed, our overview of gum disease treatment options walks through what comes next. You can fill out the periodontal registration form online from our registration forms page before your visit.