Gum Disease in East Lansing

At Contemporary Dentistry East Lansing, we’ve been diagnosing and treating gum disease in East Lansing for years, and we can do the same for you, whether providing a gingivitis cure or treating advanced periodontitis. Just give us a call today to schedule an appointment with a East Lansing dentist who can help you rid yourself of gum disease and restore a healthy mouth and smile.

The Difference Between Gingivitis and Periodontitis

There are different types of gum disease, which are distinguished by their degree of severity.

Gingivitis

Gingivitis, or gum inflammation, typically precedes periodontitis, or gum infection. But not all cases of gingivitis develop into periodontitis. Gingivitis affects most people at some time in life. Its symptoms are simply so mild, they can be easy to overlook or ignore. While this makes a gingivitis cure quite simple, without timely gingivitis treatment, what started out as a small and easily fixable problem can cause increasingly more severe problems in your mouth.

Fortunately, reversing gum disease at this stage can be quite simple. Signs of gingivitis are both preventable and reversible, and effective gingivitis treatment can be as simple as brushing and flossing of your teeth on a daily basis as well as regular visits to your dentist in East Lansing for standard cleanings and exams.

When gingivitis starts out, bacteria begins changing into plaque, which causes an inflammation of the gums. In this state, your gums can bleed easily during brushing and flossing. Your gums may feel slightly irritated or sensitive, but your teeth at least remain firmly fixed in their sockets. As of yet, no permanent tissue damage or bone loss has occurred. Reversing gum disease at this stage can prevent that from ever happening.

Periodontal Disease

If gingivitis treatment is not started and a gingivitis cure not implemented with due haste, it can advance into periodontitis. You have periodontitis when the inner layer of your gums pull away from your teeth, forming small spaces between the gums and teeth known as pockets. Debris accumulates in these pockets potentially causing infection. Your immune system then kicks into gear to combat the bacteria filling up in those pockets and spreading plaque throughout the gums beneath the gum line. This process causes a combination of inflammation and decay that can deepen those pockets and ultimately lead to the destruction of the gums and jawbone.

Advanced Periodontitis

In this final stage of advanced gum disease, the teeth can loosen, shift around in the mouth and fall out. Pain can be severe and debilitating. Speech and eating can become impacted; so too can become the look of your smile.

Gum disease is the reason why most adults in the U.S. over 35 years of age lose their teeth.

Signs and Symptoms of Gum Disease

At first, gingivitis symptoms may be so mild that you don’t even recognize them. There may be no pain, and the signs of gingivitis like minor redness, swelling, sensitivity or even bleeding of the teeth while brushing may go unnoticed.

Other gingivitis symptoms include persistent halitosis, a nasty taste in your mouth and receding gums. Among the signs of gingivitis may also be differences from the norm in how your teeth fit against one another when you bite down or how your partial dentures fit.

You may or may not be able to detect any of these gum disease symptoms; only your dentist in East Lansing can recognize them for sure. That’s why it’s so important to see your dentist in East Lansing regularly for basic examinations and cleanings. Only then can you be sure to stay on top of any potentially developing gingivitis symptoms and attack it before the disease causes any damage.

Treating Gum Disease in East Lansing

The aims of gum disease treatment are to reduce inflammation, pocket depth and infection risk, foster the reattaching of healthy gums to your teeth and stop the progression of gum disease. The options available for treating your gum disease depend on how far the gum disease has progressed. Gingivitis is the easiest to treat, while advanced periodontitis is the hardest. Depending on the stage and progression of your periodontal disease, your East Lansing dentist may prescribe antibiotics and a deep oral cleaning, scaling and root planing procedures, or even refer you to an oral surgeon to restore the jawbone and supporting tissues of the mouth.

If you detect signs of gum disease, call Contemporary Dentistry East Lansing today to schedule a dental appointment and discuss whether a gingivitis cure or gum disease cure is right for you.