Gum (periodontal) disease, gum recession, gingivitis

Given how impor­tant gum health is to over­all mouth health, it is kind of bad that I haven’t addressed it yet on my blog, so it’s time to get to this very impor­tant sub­ject!  The first thing to note: as much as I love to use pho­tos to illus­trate dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions, I’m not going to use any pic­tures of gum dis­ease, and please trust me on this.…you don’t want me to do so!  LOL  Gum dis­ease can look pretty nasty (and it is!), and if you’re read­ing this around lunch or din­ner, I don’t want you to lose your appetite. 

What is the Dif­fer­ence between Gum (Peri­odon­tal) Dis­ease and Gingivitis?

In sim­plest terms: Gin­givi­tis is inflam­ma­tion of your gums, but Gum Dis­ease is infec­tion of your gums. Both are caused by bac­te­ria, but gum dis­ease is more severe and has worse con­se­quences for your over­all health.  Don’t believe me?  How about Whoopi Goldberg?

If you lis­ten to the TV com­mer­cials by cer­tain mouthrinse man­u­fac­tur­ers, you’d think gin­givi­tis is pretty darn bad.  True, you should not ignore it, but no, it does not mean your teeth are on the verge of falling out.

What Makes Gin­givi­tis Turn into Peri­odon­ti­tis (Gum DISEASE)?

Whether or not gin­givi­tis ever pro­gresses to gum (peri­odon­tal) dis­ease is affected by a num­ber of fac­tors, including

1. The kinds and amounts of bac­te­ria in your mouth
2. Your immune system
3. Your oral hygiene habits (brush­ing, floss­ing, mouthrinses, etc)

Stages of Gum Disease

• Type I: the mildest form and is when gin­givi­tis crosses the line into gum disease.
• Types II and III: get­ting pro­gres­sively worse with the gum sep­a­rat­ing from the teeth, bone being lost, the gums get­ting red­der and bleed­ing more eas­ily, lots of tar­tar and plaque build­ing up.
• Type IV: severe bleed­ing, pus, teeth are loose and wob­bly, gum abscesses, and teeth even falling out.

Did you know that gum dis­ease is the cause of more extrac­tions that cav­i­ties even?

So what can you do about it?  Stay tuned.……more infor­ma­tion com­ing soon!  It’s impor­tant, too, BECAUSE GUM DISEASE HAS BEEN LINKED TO A NUMBER OF OTHER VERY SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITIONS YOU DON’T WANT!

To make an appoint­ment for a Com­pli­men­tary Consultation:

Request an Appoint­ment Online or call us at 704–364-7069.

We’ll look for­ward to meet­ing you soon!