Gum Disease Symptoms: What Does Dental Disease Look Like

Dr. Rahmani is a board certified periodontist in NYC and Dental Implant Specialist. Our state of the art NYC periodontics facility equipped with the most advanced periodontal equipment available in USA including latest lasers & high precision microscopes. We work with top dental labs in NYC and use only highest quality dental components available on the market today. 

 

If you have recently been told you have gum disease symptoms then your dentist or periodontist might have talked about gingivitis and periodontitis or perhaps periodontal disease. Learning you have an oral health problem is bad enough without having to cope with lots of dental terminology so what is the difference between gingivitis and periodontitis?

Early Stages of Gum Disease Symptoms

If you have been told you have gingivitis then you are relatively lucky as this is an early form of gum disease and is extremely treatable. All types of gum disease symptoms are caused by bacterial infection, usually due to poor oral hygiene that has allowed bacteria to build up to such an extent that your immune system cannot fight back. With gingivitis the infection is still in its early stages and is only affecting your gums.

Symptoms of gingivitis include noticing that your gums have begun to bleed when you brush or floss or that they look red or swollen and are shiny. They may also feel slightly tender if you touch them.

To treat gingivitis, your teeth will need to be professionally cleaned to remove hardened plaque which is a substance called tartar. This contains the bacteria that are causing the inflammation and infection in your gums. By removing these bacteria, your gums will have a much better chance of healing.

This is only part of the treatment as it is vital that you pay attention to your oral health at home and it is likely this is something that your dentist will talk to you about and they may review your brushing and flossing techniques with you. Catching gum disease at this stage is good news as things become much more serious if you leave gingivitis to develop into periodontitis.

Periodontitis Is Advanced Gum Disease

Periodontitis is far more serious than gingivitis as the bacterial infection has begun destroying not only your gums but also other tissues surrounding your teeth. These include ligaments and bone. At this stage you are far better off visiting a specialist such as Dr Navid Rahmani at Manhattan Periodontics & Implant Surgery.

Although your general dentist may be able to diagnose periodontitis they will not have received specialized training in treating this condition. It is very serious so you want to receive the very best and most advanced treatments available to get rid of gum disease symptoms.

Non-Surgical Treatment for Periodontitis

Periodontitis can be treated non-surgically and surgically and it’s quite possible part of your treatment will involve scaling and root planing your teeth. This deep cleans your gums removing much of the bacterial infection. Treatment may need to be combined with various surgical techniques to help repair some of the damage caused by this disease. These days, periodontists can use the most advanced bone grafting and gum grafting techniques to help restore lost tissues. Sometimes treatment may need to be ongoing to help control this infection as it isn’t always possible to clear it up completely.

Both gingivitis and periodontitis deserve to be taken seriously as gum disease symptoms can impact your general health. If you think you may have infected gums, it’s best to seek treatment as quickly as you can to minimize the damage to your oral health and to your general health.

In: Gum Disease

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