I. What is periodontitis?
Periodontitis, as the name implies, is an inflammation of the periodontal tissues, so let’s take a look at what our teeth and periodontal tissues really are!
Our mouth is a breeding ground for bacteria, which will adhere to our teeth and form plaque, and collect under the gums and towards the roots of our teeth, attacking our periodontal tissues and causing inflammation. The good thing is that plaque is soft and can be cleaned off by us with tools such as toothbrush, floss and toothbrush.
However, once they are not cleaned off, plaque will combine with calcium ions in the mouth to form calculus, which cannot be removed by brushing, and it will continuously produce bacteria and toxins to attack periodontal tissues, resulting in red, swollen and bleeding gums, resorption of alveolar bone (bone around the root), exposure of tooth roots, and eventually loosening and loss of teeth.
In fact, our teeth are equivalent to a tree, periodontal tissue is equivalent to the soil around the roots of the tree, once periodontitis, it is equivalent to the occurrence of soil erosion, the soil around the roots of the tree are gone, the tree will fall.
Second, what are the symptoms of periodontal disease?
1, gum bleeding
Although there is no obvious pain or discomfort, you still need to see a periodontist instead of relying on toothpaste that has the function of stopping bleeding, otherwise you will delay the disease! Remember!
2, bad breath
3. Loose teeth
After the periodontitis is moderately severe, there will be loose teeth, and then there is a weak bite, pain, affecting chewing; there will also be a gap between the teeth become larger, elongation and displacement and affect the aesthetics. If you don’t seek medical attention, you will lose your teeth!
Common sense: people do not lose their teeth in old age
Loose teeth are the result of serious periodontal inflammation and not a sign of aging! It is extremely wrong to say that teeth will fall out when you get older, and this is not based on science! Early treatment can be controlled and avoided!
Do you often have “stuffed teeth” and need to “floss” for dinner to feel comfortable? Do you often have itchy gums, pain, bleeding, bad taste, root caries, hot and cold tooth pain, etc.? You should not be careless about these situations, and consult a periodontist in time to avoid serious consequences such as loosening and loss of teeth!
Third, how to prevent periodontal disease?
1.Scientific brushing
Choose a soft-bristled, small-headed toothbrush, use fluoride or desensitizing toothpaste, brush twice a day, and recommend the BASS (Bass) brushing method.
2.Use dental floss
Use a box of floss in a roll at least once a day, either before or after brushing, and use it on every tooth (including the last surface of the last tooth).
3. Quit smoking
Smoking has an irrecoverable damaging effect on periodontal tissues. For the sake of your teeth, start today by reducing the amount of smoking you do!
4.Regular checkup
Periodontitis is prone to recurrence, and the above preventive measures cannot replace professional periodontal checkups and treatment. Regular checkups, prevention is better than treatment!
Since the cause of periodontitis is caused by the dirt around your teeth (calculus, plaque), the treatment of periodontitis is to do the cleaning, i.e. the doctor helps you to clean the calculus (which cannot be cleaned off by brushing) and teaches you to learn self-cleaning and maintenance of your teeth.
We know that plaque and tartar buildup is the main cause of periodontal disease, so the purpose of this stage of treatment is to do a major cleaning of your mouth, mainly including supragingival scaling and subgingival scraping and root planing.
Removal of dental calculus
1.Supragingival Scaling
Supragingival scaling is actually what people call “scaling”, which removes calculus from the surface of teeth.
After scaling, you need to learn the scientific method of brushing and learn to use auxiliary tools such as dental floss and interdental brushes.
However, if your periodontist diagnoses that you have periodontitis, scaling alone will not completely solve your problem because the dirt has already grown inside the gums and on the root surface of your teeth. The doctor uses fine instruments to remove tartar and plaque located under the gums and on the root surface to reduce the inflammation of periodontal tissues.
2.Subgingival scraping
Subgingival scraping is actually scraping the roots of the teeth – scraping the calculus that grows under the gums and on the root surface of the teeth.
V. Periodontal surgery
Scaling and scaling are excellent for mild periodontitis, but periodontal surgery is needed for teeth with more advanced inflammation.
Periodontal surgery is an outpatient procedure that is minimally invasive, does not require hospitalization, is painless during surgery, and has minimal postoperative pain.
The following are two common procedures.
1.Cutting the gums, trimming the alveolar bone around the roots of the teeth (inflammation can irregularly destroy the alveolar bone) and suturing the gums.
2, If after cutting the gums, we find deep and narrow pit-like bone destruction around the root, then through our efforts, we can allow some regeneration of the bone here for the stability of the tooth.