Keep your gums in top shape for smiles that shine their healthy, brilliant best!
FAQs about gum disease
While the teeth are often considered the “stars” of your smile, the gums surrounding them play an important supportive role. When gum tissue is healthy, it protects and holds your teeth in place. Healthy gums also provide a beautiful “frame” for your teeth, contributing to a balanced appearance. When the gums are damaged due to disease, your teeth and other tissues suffer. The gums may appear puffy or erode, with gum recession resulting in a “long in the tooth” and unbalanced-looking smile. Newport Smiles works with patients across Newport Beach, California, to protect their gums. So, treatment is rendered unnecessary.
How do I know if my gums are healthy?
Generally, healthy gums are pinkish-red – not too red or unusually dark. They are also firm but not puffy. You shouldn’t feel them; for instance, there should be no tenderness when you press on your gums with your finger or toothbrush. They shouldn’t bleed when you brush or floss, either. With all this being said, conditions such as gum disease (or periodontal disease) do not always produce symptoms like those mentioned here. This is especially true of oral conditions in their earliest stages. Because early gum disease or inflammation can be asymptomatic, you may think your gums are healthy as they feel and look fine and unchanged. For these and other reasons, it is essential to maintain checkups at our office. So, our dentist, Dr. Aarti Puri, can confirm that your gums are truly healthy. Or, she may find early trouble signs and work with you to resolve them before the problem worsens and causes irreversible damage.
How do my gums become damaged?
The biggest threat to your gums is periodontal disease. Gum disease is a leading cause of tooth loss. It affects an estimated half of all adults aged 30 and older. It is also highly preventable. And, when detected and treated effectively in its earliest stages, the damage caused by gum disease can be reversed. As gum disease progresses, however, it breaks down the supportive attachments between the teeth and gums. Teeth become loose in their sockets. The supportive jawbone can also be eroded. When bone is lost, it is lost for good unless professionals intervene with regenerative treatments.
What can I do to prevent gum disease?
The best thing you can do is take good care of your gums and teeth at home and in our office. This means maintaining consistently thorough brushing and flossing. Gum disease develops due to lingering food particles and harmful oral bacteria. It is essential to remove these particles to maintain a healthy environment in your mouth. Our dental hygienists must also perform professional cleanings at least once every six months and more frequently as needed. This cleaning, known as prophylaxis or “prophy,” removes what toothbrushes and floss cannot – and that’s the build-up of a destructive film of bacteria or plaque. Once plaque hardens to become tartar, it is stubborn and can only be removed with special techniques and dental instruments.
How do you treat gum disease if I already have it?
Treatment depends on how far the disease has progressed. Early-stage gum disease (or gingivitis) is characterized by inflammation. It may be treated with changes to oral hygiene and the “deep cleaning” alternative to the prophy: Scaling and Root Planning. More advanced periodontitis is a serious gum infection. Depending on the severity of periodontitis, nonsurgical therapy such as SRP and antibiotics may be appropriate. Surgery may be needed to rebuild or regenerate lost soft and hard tissues for more severe periodontitis.
Don't wait for gum troubles to arise. If it's been more than six months since your last checkup, schedule yours today at Newport Smiles. Our Newport Beach, California, team can be reached at (949) 353-5622.