Gum disease prevention and treatment at Beau Monde Dental Care in Bristol.

Have you ever noticed a small amount of blood in your saliva after you have cleaned your teeth? If so, it is quite possible that you may have the beginnings of gingivitis.  This is the common name for the less destructive period of gum disease and is usually caused by the dental plaque caused by bacterial build up around the gums and teeth.

Gingivitis can have a number of symptoms, of which bleeding from the gums is one of the most common. Other symptoms include soreness or redness of the gums along with halitosis (bad breath).

The good news for anyone with those symptoms is that, in many cases, a simple improvement in your brushing and flossing can reverse it with few, if any, long term effects.

Do Not Ignore

We can’t emphasise enough, here at Beau Monde Dental Care, how important it is that you do not ignore these early signs. Whilst early stage gum disease is relatively easily treated, if left to advance, this can become a serious problem.

If you do notice bleeding from the gums, or soreness, we recommend that, as well as improving your oral health regime, you pay us a visit at our Bristol dental practice so that we can check your teeth and gums thoroughly. In many cases, there are areas of the teeth that are notoriously difficult to self clean and a little extra professional dental cleaning can go a long way in the prevention of gum disease. This is especially so around the gum line, and a simple ‘scale and polish’ may be all that is needed to prevent the advance of gum disease.

Consequences

If professional help is not sought during the early stages of gum disease, it may advance to periodontitis which is a much more serious proposition altogether.

Periodontitis not only attacks the gums, but the other supporting structures of the teeth, including the jaw bone itself.

When this happens, the support for the teeth becomes unstable and may well result in the loss of teeth. There should really be no need for this to occur however and prompt action is all that is needed to prevent the loss of any teeth.

Although early action is by far the best option, even those with more advanced gum disease should see one of our periodontists as treatments are still available. This usually entails a deep cleaning of the teeth including deep under the gum line. As this is quite an invasive procedure, it is done using a local anaesthetic to minimise any discomfort.

Ultimately though, there really should be no reason for gum disease to lead to periodontitis and, if early action is taken, along with a visit to our Bristol dental practice for professional advice, there really should be no threat to the long term health of your teeth.

For more information about the prevention and treatment of gum disease, please call us on 0117 330 3495.