When it comes to practicing excellent oral hygiene, it’s just as important to take good care of your gums as it is to take good care of your teeth. While everyone wants a dazzling, beautifully white smile that lights up a room, healthy, pink gums are also integral to maintaining a Hollywood-worthy, stunning smile.
Your Columbus Circle general dentist will perform a comprehensive evaluation on your first visit and discuss any problem areas with you. Suggestions for improving your oral health may be provided, and advice on how to brush and floss properly to ensure healthy teeth and gums will be offered. Your job as a good patient is to follow your dentist’s guidelines and do everything possible to ensure you maintain great oral hygiene while at home and traveling.
A Brief Look at Gum Disease
As with most medical conditions, gum disease has stages. According to the Cleveland Clinic’s website, “Gingivitis is the earliest stage of gum disease…and happens when plaque and bacteria build up on your teeth and cause infection.”
The most common symptoms of this early stage of gum disease include:
- Red gums
- Swollen gums
- Bleeding gums while brushing and flossing
- Chronic bad breath
- Gum sensitivity
- Painful gums
- Tooth sensitivity
- Receding gums
- Loose teeth
- Teeth falling out
When caught in its early stage, gum disease is treatable, and many people can stop it in its tracks with help from a Columbus Circle general dentist with gum disease treatment experience.
More Advanced Gum Disease (Periodontitis)
Periodontitis, a more advanced stage of gingivitis, is severe inflammation of your gums, with symptoms that include red, bleeding, or swollen gums. Periodontitis is a bacterial infection that inflames the soft tissues around your teeth. When it’s not treated in a timely manner, it erodes the bone that supports your teeth; this erosion may eventually lead to tooth decay and even tooth loss.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Periodontitis affects more than 47% of adults over 30 in…That number jumps to around 70% for adults 65 years and over.” Even though periodontitis is uncommon in adults under the age of thirty, it can still affect anyone with poor hygiene and those who do not visit their Columbus Circle general dentist for twice-yearly dental exams and cleanings.
The symptoms of periodontitis are quite similar to gingivitis but are much more serious:
- Red or purple gums
- Swollen gums
- Bleeding gums
- Tender gums
- Bad breath
- Pus around your gum line
- Loose teeth.
- Teeth that have fallen out
- Gums pulling away from teeth (gum recession)
- Chewing pain
- Newly formed gaps/spaces between teeth
- Changes in your bite
Gum disease treatment may involve deep dental cleaning or, in very rare severe cases, surgery. Regular brushing and flossing can usually prevent periodontitis, but sometimes, other factors cause periodontitis that have nothing to do with oral hygiene practices. Your gum treatment dentist in NYC will know more after she performs a comprehensive examination.
Risk Factors for Gum Disease
As mentioned earlier, some people are more at risk than others for gum disease. Here are some of the most common risk factors for periodontitis:
- Smoking cigarettes weakens your body’s ability to fight infection
- Diabetics are more prone to developing illnesses, including gum disease
- Your genetics and family history
- Hormonal changes in women and people assigned female at birth, such as pregnancy or using birth control pills, can increase your chances of developing periodontitis. Please ask your medical doctor before stopping any such medications or supplements.
- Health conditions that cause inflammation in your body (arthritis, COVID-19, auto-immune conditions, and heart disease) have been linked to periodontitis.
Learn More About Gum Disease Risk and Treatment in Columbus Circle, NYC
If you’re concerned about gum disease, please call Appolon Dental Group at [lct_phone) or book an appointment on our online form. We also have a contact form that allows you to ask questions, and one of our dental team members will reach out shortly. We want to welcome you to the Columbus Circle, NYC, dental office of Karthilde Appolon, DDS, where “comfort meets compassion and luxury meets honesty.” There are many conservative gum disease treatment options available today, so please don’t put off your dental health one more day.
