Gum disease is a serious issue—not just for your oral health, but also your overall health and well-being. In fact, gum disease has been linked to a variety of deadly conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and certain types of cancers, not to mention the devastation that it can cause for your smile. Dr. Claire Cho offers patients several gum disease treatment options to help reduce the inflammation, disease, and other issues associated with periodontitis.
Gum disease is essentially an infection in the gums. If oral hygiene is insufficient to remove the plaque and tartar that build up on your teeth, then bacteria begin to multiply. As they infiltrate the area beneath the gum line, they excrete toxic byproducts that eat away at your healthy tissues, including the gums, teeth, and bone. Signs of gum disease include
In addition to these uncomfortable symptoms, untreated gum disease can result in gum recession, loose teeth, and even tooth loss.
How does gum disease affect the rest of the body?
Gum disease affects the rest of our body, and our mouth is our entryway to all the diseases. There is a strong link with heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, lung cancer, and a whole list of diseases that come from gum disease.
How do you treat gum disease in Dental Health and Aesthetics Center?
At Dr. Cho’s office, we stress the periodontal condition of the patient as being the foundation to not only their teeth but to their overall health. We treat it using different types of cleaning and control of patients’ gum disease through three different types of lasers that we use at the office.
We work with our hygienists who have had special training with the CO2 laser to treat gum disease and try to prevent all our patients from getting to any advanced stages. We also use Perio protect trays for the patient, to use on a daily basis. So that they can kill the bacteria instead of relying on the hygienist when they come in every three or six months.