How important are your gums to your overall oral health? You might not think about it, but your gums provide vital protection against outside bacteria that you encounter on a daily basis. Whenever you open your mouth to eat, drink, speak, or breathe, your gums provide an integral seal that holds your teeth strongly in place. This means you should take care to maintain the health of your gums throughout the day and prevent the buildup of material that can lead to bacterial growth. Preventative strategies, such as brushing, flossing, and attending routine cleanings, can help prevent the infection of oral tissues that contributes to tooth loss. Your Ankeny, IA dentist is standing by to support your periodontal health. At each visit to our office, we will examine the state of your gums and can offer advanced treatment if we discover that infection is present.
How Gum Disease Harms Your Oral Health
Gum disease is a bacterial infection of periodontal tissues that can severely impact the health of your smile. Common symptoms of infection include gums that become red from inflammation and feeling sensitive to the touch. You may experience bleeding each morning after brushing and flossing your teeth or find that no matter how often you brush, a constant pungent odor lingers on your breath. As the disease progresses, infection attacks your jawbone and can reduce its density. This can cause your teeth to feel loose and eventually even fall out. This is why it is so critical to practice habits that prevent infection, attend regular examination and cleaning, and seek treatment early whenever symptoms are present. Caught at its first stage, gingival infection can be reversed before it reaches the jawbone, but our team at Dental Impressions can also provide treatment to control the disease when you require more advanced forms of care.
Deep Cleaning To Treat Advanced Infection
If we detect advanced periodontal disease, we can provide a specialized treatment to remove bacterial growth and reduce symptoms of inflammation and consistent bleeding. Deep cleanings, otherwise known as scaling and root planing, allow us to remove plaque and tartar deposits below your gumline. Compared to a routine cleaning, which only removes deposits above the line, this treatment cleans all the way down to the pockets of your teeth. We then smooth the surface of your roots so that your gums can reattach themselves. At subsequent visits to our office, we will monitor the ongoing health of your gums to control the infection.
Talk To Your Ankeny, IA Dental Team About Maintaining Healthy Gums!
Gum health is vital to the overall strength and beauty of your smile! Gum disease can lead to tooth loss when it is not addressed promptly, but regular examinations allow your dentist to detect and treat any infection. To schedule a visit, call our Ankeny, IA dentist’s office at 515-207-6182. Additionally, we serve patients who live in Alleman, Elkhart, Bondurant, and all surrounding communities as well.
