Periodontal Care
Muscle Shoals, AL
 Making sure you receive the best periodontal care is important to us at Singing River Dentistry. It's important to us because good overall dental care doesn't just mean taking care of your teeth. Periodontal care focuses on maintaining healthy gums and treating the issues that can arise in more serious cases that require the use of dental implants. Periodontal issues impact millions of people in America and are one of the leading causes of tooth loss among adults.
Request an Appointment
The Cause and Impact of Periodontal Diseases
Periodontitis, which is more commonly known as gum disease, causes the tissues that hold your teeth in place to become infected. Periodontitis is often preceded by gingivitis (which is a treatable issue) when it is left unchecked. It most often occurs when people don't get regularly scheduled dental cleanings and have poor brushing and flossing habits at home. Smoking can also damage your gums and impact treatment. Other issues that can put you at a higher risk of developing periodontitis include obesity, hormonal changes, diabetes, and poor nutrition.
The symptoms of periodontitis include swollen, bleeding, or receding gums, sensitive or loose teeth, bleeding during brushing or flossing, persistent bad breath and in the later stages complete tooth loss.
Treating Periodontal Disease
We will first take gum measurements and examine your entire mouth to determine how severe the infection is and to identify any other dental problems that may be occurring. Regardless of how severe the problem, the first step is always getting a professional cleaning at our office and improving your dental care habits at home. That means getting on a regular brushing and flossing schedule and eliminating harmful habits such as smoking or chewing tobacco.
If the problem is advanced, we may schedule you to receive a deep cleaning, sometimes called root scaling. This is a more involved process that involves advanced gum and tooth cleaning to eliminate built-up plaque and tartar and clean out all of the pockets of bacteria that are causing the infection.
In severe cases, we may prescribe medication such as antibiotics to help treat the infection. If you are already experiencing advanced tooth decay or tooth loss, we will then discuss dental implant options such as tooth replacement or dentures (partial or full).
It is important to note that even if you have dentures, you still need to take good care of your gums and dental implants. You can still be susceptible to gum disease if you do not get regular professional cleanings and practice good oral hygiene at home. You must also take care not to excessively clench or grind your teeth, as they can damage the implants. Contact us right away if you have issues with teeth clenching or if you feel you need a mouthguard to wear at night to protect against grinding.
Contact Us Today!
Don't wait for periodontitis to cause irreversible damage to your smile. Make an appointment today with Singing River Dentistry to get the periodontal care you need to keep your gums protected and healthy. Even if you have already experienced tooth loss, call us now at 256-712-3186 so that we can get started right away at getting you the dental implants you need.
Request an Appointment
|
