Patients often present complaining of bleeding, inflammation of the gums, bad breath and receding gums with occasionally wobbly teeth if the disease has progressed far enough. Bad breath is often a result of food debris collecting in between teeth.
Our dental hygienists specialise in improving your mouth’s health and advising you on how best to care for your teeth and gums. Their treatment will minimise the risk of gum disease, provide a solid foundation for your teeth, and ensure fresh breath and confidence.
Commonly known as ‘Gum Disease’, periodontal disease is the process of loss of support to your teeth. This eventually leads to the loss of your teeth if untreated. You only have one set of adult teeth, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. The supporting tissues to your teeth are the gingivae (gums), bone and the ligaments which join your teeth to the bone.
Your body produces an immune response to the bacteria and the toxins they produce in your mouth. We all have bacteria in our mouth. If we do not clean our teeth, the bacteria will adhere to areas of food debris and multiply in numbers. This film of bacteria and food sugars is called plaque. This is the sticky colourless film which forms on our teeth. These bacteria feed on the food which remains on your teeth after you have eaten.
Gingivitis means inflammation of the gums. ‘Itis’ in Latin means inflammation. Periodontal disease is the subsequent loss of supporting tissues to your teeth, eventually resulting in the loss of your teeth. We will all suffer from gingivitis at some point during our lives. This means that our oral hygiene is not optimal, the plaque has accumulated around the gums, and more effort is needed in certain areas to improve our oral health.
You may notice that the gums bleed when you brush your teeth. If so, don’t stop brushing in these areas. The only way for this to stop is to continue with a daily regime of cleaning your teeth. Your gums may bleed for a number of weeks before they stop, so you must persevere. If gingivitis is not resolved, it can develop into periodontal disease over time.
The contributing factors for periodontal disease are the following;
The most important factor which affects all those with periodontal disease is oral hygiene. It is absolutely necessary to maintain optimal oral health for periodontal disease to resolve. If oral hygiene cannot be maintained at an optimal level, periodontal disease will progress. It is not worth spending lots of time and money on periodontal treatment if you are not going to look after your teeth at home.
Smoking increases the risk of getting periodontal disease and also greatly reduces the success of treatment for periodontal disease. Smoking cessation is an important part of treating periodontal disease successfully.
Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus has been linked to having gum disease, the progression of the disease and reducing the success of treating the disease. It is worth consulting your GP to see what can be done to help control your diabetes.
Some people are sadly more predisposed to suffering from periodontal disease than others. This means their immune system is much more sensitive to bacteria and toxins than others. As a result, they have to be extremely regimented with their brushing.
Smoking causes a reduction in the blood supply to your gums. Therefore, those who smoke with gingivitis or gum disease often don’t present with bleeding gums. Ask your Hygienist or Dentist for advice on quitting smoking.
Patients often present complaining of bleeding, inflammation of the gums, bad breath and receding gums with occasionally wobbly teeth if the disease has progressed far enough. Bad breath is often a result of food debris collecting in between teeth.
At every oral health assessment (check-up), we shall assess your periodontal health by taking simple measurements around your mouth and monitoring the degree of plaque and bleeding present. From this, we will determine whether further clinical and radiographic investigations are required.
Our hygienists are specifically trained to help you improve your oral hygiene and treat gingivitis and periodontal disease. They will discuss with you what toothbrush would be appropriate for you and any interdental cleaning aids you should be using, and they will structure a personalised home oral hygiene regime for you.
In addition to oral hygiene advice, all patients seeing a hygienist will receive a gross scale of their teeth to remove any hard calculus (tartar) from their teeth so they can start to improve their oral hygiene.
Depending on the severity of the periodontal problem, we will either review your periodontal health in 3 months to see if this has improved or begin with some deeper cleaning around your gums within 6 weeks.
However, we will not provide this deep cleaning of your gums unless your plaque and bleeding scores are below 15%. The reason for this is that clinical studies have shown that treatment is unsuccessful if your oral hygiene is not at this satisfactory level.
It would, therefore, be a waste of your time and money if you were to pay for this treatment.
We recommend you see the hygienist every 3 months until your periodontal health has stabilised if you have gum disease. At this point, we would recommend you come every 6 months unless we have any concerns or there is a relapse.
Suppose you require treatment for root canals, crowns, bridges, and implants. In that case, we are clinically justified not to offer these unless we can evidently see an improvement in your oral hygiene, which would not be of detriment to otherwise healthy teeth. This is for your benefit as you could waste time and money on treatment, which is likely to be unsuccessful over a short period of time.
We shall reassess your oral health and areas of specific concern and see if we can provide further treatment or whether it would be in your best interest to be seen by a periodontal specialist.
If your oral hygiene and gingival health are not optimal, your treatment options can be limited in the long and short term.
Our treatments are designed to keep your smile bright and healthy.
We ensure healthy teeth, gums, fresh breath, and confidence.
We combine skill and creativity to deliver beautiful, lasting smiles.
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The Rochester Lodge Dental Practice in Bromley, Kent, is a well-established dental clinic with over 100 years of history.
