The initial stage of gum disease is called gingivitis. Gum disease, often referred to as periodontal disease, is an infection of the tissues that surround your teeth brought on by plaque accumulation. Early on, some of the symptoms might be:

• Gums that leak readily
• swollen, red, and sensitive gums
• foul breath

The following are some things that may increase your chance of getting gingivitis:

• inadequate dental treatment
• Chewing tobacco or smoking
• genes
• crooked teeth that are difficult to maintain
• gestation
• diabetes
• pharmaceuticals, such as oral contraceptives, steroids, certain calcium channel blockers, cancer treatment therapies, and some anti-epilepsy drugs

Although this may seem frightening, the illness is still curable at this point. Daily brushing and flossing, together with a trip to the dentist’s office for expert cleaning, can help eradicate the infection.

Gum disease is typically painless, so you might not be aware that you have it. For this reason, it’s crucial to maintain a healthy dental practice that includes brushing and flossing in addition to scheduling periodic dental examinations.

Making a diagnosis

An oral hygienist or dentist will examine the mouth cavity for signs like tartar and plaque. To look for indications of periodontitis, they could also prescribe testing. X-rays or periodontal probing, which uses a device to determine the depth of the pockets surrounding a tooth, can be used for this.

Therapy

A person may be able to treat gingivitis at home with basic dental hygiene if the condition is identified early and treated appropriately.

Find out more about gingivitis home treatments here.

However, a person may want to seek professional assistance if symptoms do not go away or if the illness negatively impacts their quality of life.

Dental care from a professional and at-home follow-up procedures are common components of treatment.

Expert dental treatment

Scaling may be performed first by a dentist. This will allow them to get rid of extra tartar and plaque. This may cause discomfort, particularly if the gums are sensitive or there is a significant tartar accumulation.

Following tooth cleaning, the dentist will discuss the value of maintaining good oral hygiene and the proper technique for brushing and flossing.

They could advise scheduling follow-up visits to check on a person’s tartar and plaque. This will enable the dentist to promptly detect and address any recurrences.

Maintaining good dental hygiene also includes repairing any broken teeth. It may be more difficult to effectively remove plaque and tartar from teeth that are crooked or that have poorly fitting crowns or bridges. They may also cause gum irritation.

Avoidance

Regularly maintaining proper dental hygiene may help someone avoid gingivitis at home. This comprises:

• cleaning your teeth twice a day or more
• use an electric toothbrush
• At least one tooth-flossing session every day
• Using an antibacterial mouthwash on a daily basis

Issues

In most cases, difficulties may be avoided by treating gingivitis and according to the dentist’s advice.

But if gum disease is not treated, it can spread and damage teeth, bones, and tissue.

Among the complications are:

• infection or abscess in the mandible or gums
• Periodontitis is a more severe illness that can cause tooth and bone loss.
• Periodic gingivitis
• trench mouth, when gum ulceration results from a bacterial infection

In brief

One prevalent kind of gum disease is gingivitis. It is brought on by an accumulation of germs on the teeth. The gums may become inflamed, discolored, and painful to the touch as a result of this accumulation irritating the surrounding gum tissue.

Gingivitis may usually be treated with consistent, adequate dental hygiene. Gum disease symptoms can be detected and promptly treated with the use of routine dental examinations.

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