Gum Disease

Gum disease eats away at the bone supporting your teeth

Gum disease is insidious. There is no pain, and often patients won't be aware that something is wrong until some teeth begin to get loose.

There are two main classifications of gum disease.

Gingivitis

Gingivitis is simply an inflammation of the gums. It is superficial, and is the first stage of gum disease. Treatment is simple, and involves your basic dental cleaning and good home care including brushing and flossing daily.

Periodontitis

Periodontitis is gum disease that has progressed beyond superficial inflammation of the soft tissues and has begun to involve the bone. In periodontitis, there is destruction of the bony support of the teeth. If it is caught early (early periodontitis) treatment is relatively simple, and usually involves only deep cleaning and possibly more frequent regular maintenance.

In advanced periodontitis, teeth are loose and may have begun to fall out already.

Gum disease treatment

It's important to understand that gum disease isn't cured in the sense that most diseases are cured. It isn't an illness that you have for a while such as the flu or pneumonia. Rather, it is a degenerative disease that progresses slowly throughout your life.

Our goal in treating gum disease is to control it and to stop its progression. Read more about this on our treating gum disease page.

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