Periodontal disease is more prevalent than caries in China, and is the number one cause of tooth loss among Chinese people. Some periodontal tissue disease is a symptom of systemic disease or affected by systemic health, and some scholars suggest that periodontitis is the sixth complication of diabetes. How to know if you have periodontal disease 1. Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth or eat hard food? 2. Are your gums often swollen and painful? 3.Do you find that the gaps between your teeth are gradually increasing? 4.Do you feel your gums are receding? 5.Do you think your teeth are loose? 6.Do you find your teeth look longer than before? 7.Do you have a persistent bad taste in your mouth (halitosis)? 8, Do you feel that your teeth have no strength when chewing or pain when chewing? If you have any of these symptoms, you should take action to protect your periodontal health. It has been a common misconception that tooth loss in older adults is normal, but healthy periodontal health is something that can last a lifetime. The majority of adult tooth loss is due to periodontal disease, the result of a long history of periodontal disease that has not been thoroughly treated. Almost everyone has a different degree of periodontal disease, but periodontal disease has a longer course, the pain is not obvious, people tend to ignore the delay in the treatment of periodontal disease, more than 90% of the periodontal disease patients have never received formal periodontal treatment. Periodontal disease has become one of the most important diseases that jeopardize the oral health of Chinese people. The direct consequence of periodontal disease is the loss of teeth, which seriously affects the diet and health of patients and reduces the quality of life, while the relationship between periodontal disease and many systemic diseases requires more attention and vigilance. Bacteria and bacterial toxins from periodontal infections can enter the bloodstream and spread to cause damage to organs, and can cause an immune response and inflammation. It has been clear that periodontal infection can cause acute or subacute infective endocarditis, and recent studies have shown that patients with periodontitis are more prone to coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, low-birthweight preterm babies, gastritis, gastric ulcers, and even gastric cancer than healthy periodontal patients. Therefore, periodontal disease should not be underestimated! What is periodontal disease? Periodontal disease is a general term for all types of diseases that occur in the supporting tissues around the teeth, including gingivitis and periodontitis, which is one of the common diseases in the oral cavity. It is the main cause of tooth loss and destruction of chewing function. Periodontal disease is a chronic disease, most patients do not have self-conscious symptoms, often do not attract attention. Early periodontal disease, the symptoms are not obvious, only manifested in brushing or chewing food and other oral activities caused by bleeding gums, due to the beginning of the alveolar bone is rarely destroyed, so the teeth did not loose and shift; periodontal disease to the late stage, manifested in red, swollen gums, pus overflow, alveolar bone destruction continues to extend to the tip of the root, the teeth are getting looser and looser, the teeth are shifted, elongated, tilted and other phenomena. The patient feels that the teeth are weak in chewing, soft, and dare not eat anything slightly harder. If you think of the teeth as a big tree, the roots are like the roots of the tree, and the tissues around the teeth, such as the gums and alveolar bone, are like the soil around the roots of the tree. When there is a problem with the soil, the tree will not be able to grow vigorously. In the same way, if the gums around the root of the tooth are sick, the tooth will not be preserved even if it is not rotten. How is periodontal disease treated? The treatment of periodontal disease requires the cooperation of the patient, especially the maintenance of oral hygiene. If the patient fails to maintain good oral hygiene, the treatment will be ineffective and the periodontal disease may even recur. Therefore, patients need to be patient. The treatment of periodontal disease includes oral hygiene training, basic treatment, surgery if necessary, and regular checkups and maintenance. Periodontal treatment is divided into three stages: The first stage is the basic treatment: it can solve most of the periodontal diseases. In this stage, the dentist removes the dirt (plaque, calculus, etc.) from the surface of the teeth and the deeper parts of the teeth, especially the deeper parts of the gums. After the dentist helps the patient to remove the dirt from the surface and depth of the teeth, oral hygiene training is also done for each patient so that the dirt will not build up again and periodontal disease will occur again. The second stage is periodontal surgery: if the basic treatment is still unable to solve the problem, then surgical treatment should be considered. Periodontal surgery is a minor surgery that does not require hospitalization. After the surgery, there is usually only a slight discomfort and you can return to work or general work immediately. The third stage is regular maintenance: After active treatment of periodontal disease, every once in a while (usually a few months), it is necessary to make regular visits and maintenance in order to maintain periodontal health forever, and on the other hand, if there is a recurrence of the disease, it can be detected early and treated at an early stage.