While dental emergencies are often concerns that arise from incidents of physical damage or accidents, they can also occur due to poor hygiene or preventive management. Indeed, our grins are actually impacted by a number of threats and concerns out there, and sometimes they can develop at a rapid rate. In today’s blog, your Leawood, KS dentist will focus specifically on the common threat of periodontal disease and how our team can provide additional treatment to keep your smile healthy.
Why It Matters
As you may know, a significant number of dental concerns typically begin with harmful bacteria. These bacteria are present in all smiles and require consistent care to ensure they do not wreak havoc among your oral structures. In many cases, however, even falling short on your preventive routine just a little bit is enough to encourage them to thrive.
When oral bacteria cause concerns such as periodontal disease, what is happening is that they are making their way below the surface of your gums where they target the roots of your teeth. Here, plaque begins to accumulate on the roots and remains relatively sheltered from harm. With time, however, this buildup can cause significant complications, including loosened teeth, swelling or bleeding gums, and even tooth loss. What’s more, this phenomenon is much more common than you. Think, affecting roughly three million individuals every year. If you are experiencing any of these signs, it is imperative you reach out to your dentist today.
At-Home Practices
Oftentimes the reason that many people face the threat of periodontal disease is that they either are not certain of the signs and symptoms, or they are lacking in some area of preventive care. Most commonly, people do not attend their routine checkups and cleanings as regularly as they should. During these meetings, our team can help identify these concerns before they become major ones, which is often difficult to do on one’s own.
In addition to attending your checkups, taking steps to reduce your chances of gum disease development can go a long way. For instance, flossing plays a major role in keeping your gums healthy, as it helps remove food particles that become lodged between teeth. These particles also attract bacteria to the sight, which means flossing can significantly lower your chances of infection.
The Need for Additional Treatment
In some instances, periodontal complications can develop at a rapid rate and require additional treatment to address. To help with this, our team can provide a deep clean or a scaling and root planing procedure to remove the plaque buildup. This process will require more than one visit and often involves our team cleaning beneath the gum surface to remove harmful bacterial deposits. To finish the treatment, we will smooth the surfaces of the roots to make it more difficult for plaque to latch on in the future.
Schedule Your Appointment
For more information about this process or to schedule your appointment with our team today, contact Dreem Dentistry in Leawood, KS by calling 913-681-5500.
