Understanding Periodontal Therapy: What To Expect During Your Treatment

Routine dental checkups are useful in monitoring non-oral health conditions. For instance, dentists can assist patients in determining that they have a particular disease like diabetes. This can be useful to many people since most do not know they have pre-existing conditions.

Apart from diabetes, dentists can often identify infections of other body parts, too. They can even discover the early stages of osteoporosis in their patients! This can be done by assessing their patients’ teeth and gums.

Having periodontal therapy can help dentists lessen the probability of health issues. But what is this therapy for, and in what ways does it help promote oral and overall health? What does the treatment include, and will there be any pain? Let us understand.

What is Periodontal Disease?

A disease affecting the gums is known as periodontal disease, where the health of the gums and the underlying base of teeth, known as the jawbone, can be compromised. It happens when bacteria and food deposits within the mouth produce acid. The affected gums can cause unpleasant things to happen to one’s mouth and teeth. It is best not to let the periodontal disease advance to this level and to seek treatment immediately. It is easier to cure this disease in its early stages.

The goal of periodontal disease therapy is to eliminate plaque and tartar on the gums with scaling and root planing of the gums and tooth spaces. Moreover, the dentist will attempt to defend and build the gums, bones, and teeth much stronger in case of the next attack. Finally, they will assist patients in developing the millennium prevention strategy.

Early Indicators Of Periodontal Disease

It is preferable to receive treatment for periodontal disease in the preliminary stages. This means that we need to know some of the early signs of degenerative illness and possibly look for it during some of the oral hygiene activities that are carried out every day. The early symptoms of periodontal disease include:

• Swollen gums
• Discolored gums
• Bleeding gums
• Bad breath
• Toothache

If the early symptoms are not promptly treated, then more advanced concerns may develop, which include:

• Receding gums
• Loose teeth
• Tooth loss

Periodontal disease’s initial symptoms are moderate and usually reversible if treated early. However, the relapse case, which includes symptoms like the pulling back of gums and the smell of teeth, needs other intensive treatment.

What Goes On During Periodontal Therapy?

Several critical activities are accomplished during a periodontal therapy session to ensure the client gets the best treatment and care for gum disease. Let’s delve deeper into each stage of the process:

Initial Assessment And Examination

No treatment will be prescribed without first thoroughly examining your oral health by your Tidwell Road dentist. This usually entails checking your mouth, teeth, and gums for signs of inflammation or disease.

X-rays might also be done to determine the severity of the disease and see whether there are other problems, like loss of bone mass.

Scaling

After assessment, the process of scaling begins, which involves meticulous cleaning of the surfaces of the teeth as well as the proximal areas and gingival tissues below the gum margin. Dental instruments commonly employed in scaling include ultrasonic scalers and hand scalers. Scaling is significant for removing bacteria and irritants responsible for inflammation and disease of the gingiva.

Root Planing

The next step after scaling is root planing. This procedure is done to smooth out the roots of the teeth. This procedure involves smoothing out the irregular surface of tooth roots to make it difficult for bacteria to form plaque on them. Encouraging the gums to regain their attachment to the teeth also reduces the pocket depths, thus preventing further inflammation of gum diseases. Root planing also reduces the formation of bacterial toxins and promotes healthy gum tissue formation.

Antibacterial Treatment

Sometimes, the dentist will prescribe an additional antibacterial therapy to reduce the infection and enhance the healing process. It may include treating a specific area with topical antibiotics or using an antimicrobial oral rinse containing chlorhexidine. These treatment aids destroy any other bacteria that might remain after the periodontal therapy session, thus reducing the chances of complications.

Follow-Up And Maintenance

Your dentist will explain what to do after the periodontal therapy session, depending on the severity of the condition that the dentist has diagnosed in your mouth. It may also involve advice on the care of the oral cavity during self-care at a dwelling place, including proper brushing and flossing and using antibacterial mouthwash if necessary. Your dentist will also book follow-up appointments to check on you and ensure that your gums are healing. Control examinations are necessary to retain the outcomes of periodontal treatments and avoid the relapse of gum diseases.

Overall, a periodontal therapy session is a broad and many-staged process that aims to manage and treat gum diseases and oral health. Periodontal therapy entails treating the causes of the disease that attacks the gum tissue and assists patients in gaining healthier gums and a smile.

Advantages Of Periodontal Therapy

Periodontal therapy offers several benefits for individuals with gum disease, including:

• Maintenance of gums and bones surrounding teeth in a healthy state to avoid tooth loss
• Enhancement of Dental Health and Dental hygiene
• Prevention of the progression of gum disease and its relation to such conditions as heart diseases and diabetes.
• Through periodontal therapy, you will reduce the risk of spreading the disease, which will affect not only your gums but also other parts of your body.

Points to Remember After Periodontal Therapies

To ensure the gums begin to heal soon after gum therapy is administered, the right practices on oral health must be adopted. Common aftercare tips include:

• Excellent oral hygiene: You should brush at least twice a day, for at least two minutes, and floss daily to reduce or eradicate bacterial formations around the gums, which may trigger gum disease relapse. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles, do not brush too hard, and use fluoride paste.
• Routine health checks and annual dental visits: Your dentist looks at your gum healing and oral health and deals with possible complications. Likewise, the dentist will scrape your teeth and the surrounding gum line to eliminate the bacterial formation, which may cause or reinstate gum disease.
• Proper diet: It is wise to consume soft, healthy, not spicy foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, and proteins to allow the gums to heal, leaving out hard foods and crunchy foods with sugar or acid as they may worsen or cause gum disease.
• Avoid tobacco: You need to quit smoking as it hinders the healing of gums and fuels bacterial growth in the mouth, thus worsening gums.

Proper periodontal therapy enables the gums to become healthy again if the appropriate treatment is begun early enough.

Final Thoughts

Finally, it comes with the bonus that your sparkling smile will also be safe, protected, and aligned properly for you, and your jawbone will also stay healthy.

Also, the treatment of germ-induced early-period gum diseases can prevent chronic inflammation. For this very reason, it also contributes to the reduction of risks of the development of other significant states of health.

Are you willing to get that perfect, healthy pink gum with no sign of inflammation? Please understand that our wonderful dental team at Tidwell Dental is here to assist you at any time. Do not hesitate to contact us for any questions related to periodontal treatments!