Periodontitis: Is It Too Late To Treat Your Advanced Gum Disease?

If you have advanced gum disease, you may think it's too late to seek treatment or do something about your condition. Although advanced gum disease (periodontitis) is permanent, you can treat it with the right dental care. If you don't seek dental care now, your advanced gum disease can cause tooth and bone loss in the future. Here's how untreated periodontitis affects you and how regular dental care can help you control and manage your condition.

What's Advanced Gum Disease?

Periodontal disease (gum disease) is a bacterial infection that occurs in gums. The infection typically occurs in two stages: gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is the most treatable and mildest form of the disease. However, gingivitis can advance to periodontitis if you don't treat it in a timely manner. 

Chronic and aggressive periodontitis are two of the most common conditions to affect adults today. Chronic periodontitis generally takes some time to develop, which makes it a gradual process. However, aggressive periodontitis develops quickly and can cause significant damage in your gums, teeth, and jaw.

All forms of advanced gum disease can lead to complete tissue damage or destruction. The infection can spread to the structures holding your teeth in place, including your ligaments and jawbone. Once the infection spreads to the ligaments or jawbone, it can cause tooth and bone loss.

It's not too late to treat your periodontitis. You'll need to see a dentist to do so.

How Do You Manage Advanced Gum Disease?

A dentist will need access your gums to see what type of periodontitis you have before they treat you. To do so, a dentist will need to measure the pockets in your gum tissue. Once gum disease spreads below the gumline, it creates loose pockets of bacteria, plaque, and other toxins

The pockets of debris can build up near or on the roots of your teeth and infect your ligaments and jawbone. If your pockets are small, the toxins from the infection may only affect your gums. A dentist will generally have their dental hygienist clean your teeth to remove the toxins.

If your pockets are large, the toxins may have spread to your ligaments and jawbone. In this case, a dentist may check to see if your teeth wobble in their sockets or appear loose. Loose teeth may lead to tooth loss later on. A dentist may try to save your teeth by cleaning the roots and bone tissue supporting them. After they complete the cleaning, a dentist may apply an antiseptic to your gums to reduce the toxins in them.

You can treat your advanced gum disease by contacting a dental provider today, such as Tony Parsley, DMD.