What is Periodontal Disease and How Does it Affect Me?

By *~ Fairy Dust *~

Over 70% of adult Americans suffer in some fashion from periodontal disease. Often referred to as the “silent disease," periodontal disease is a type of gum infection in the mouth where bacteria can cause the lining of the gums that hold your teeth in your mouth to deteriorate.  Typically periodontal disease is caused by such poor hygiene that eventually bacteria infects the mouth and starts a war.  

Think of it as an all out frontal attack of your gums and if the gums are not able to defend themselves against this bacteria, they become weak, lose the battle, and a way is made for the beginning of periodontal disease to develop.  With the warmth, dampness, and darkness, bacteria are right at home in our mouths and our oral condition can easily spiral downward.  Imagine the scenario of bacteria aggressively attack your teeth, bone and ligaments and then later on down the line you'll need expensive surgery like bone and gum grafts, root canals, or tooth extractions.  

Ultimately you want to implement the ideas above and couple that with regular checkups to the dentist who will inspect your oral condition for various stages of progression.  If the millimeters of the gum pockets (space between the gums and the teeth) are between 2-3 mm then you may have stage one of periodontal disease, 4-5 mm is stage two, and 6 mm or deeper represents stage three.

Previously, it was thought that periodontal disease mainly is an oral condition but as recent studies have shown periodontal disease can have adverse effects on other parts of the body such as increasing the risk of a stroke by as much as 10 times, digestive disorders, bone loss, gum loss, cancer of the pancreas, and a 25% increase of heart disease.  

The signs and symptoms that an individual can observe on their own that hint to possible periodontal disease are:

• Seeing blood in your toothpaste
• Receding gums
• Sores or lesion in the mouth
• Trench mouth
• Seeing blood on your floss
• Spaces developing between teeth
• Bleeding gums
• Spitting blood out with mouthwash
• Sensitive, inflamed or bleeding gums

Here are a few day to day tips that take about 5 minutes to implement:

• Brush your teeth for at least 2-3 minutes thoroughly
• Floss your teeth for at least 1-3 minutes
• Scrape or brush your tongue each time

Depending on the stage of periodontal disease that an individual may be experiencing, the treatments may vary.  Severe cases of periodontal disease may warrant gum grafts, whereas other cases may require tooth extractions, root canal, or the implementation of false teeth.

Common treatments for periodontal disease in all cases severe and minor include:

• Surgical gum graft to replace missing or receding gum lining
• Tooth extraction of loose teeth or root canal therapy
• Full mouth debridement
• Deep cleaning
• Regular cleanings

Preventative means is the best means and the better that you take care of your mouth, tongue, teeth and gums daily, the more likely they are to stick around with you for a while.  

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