Periodontal Maintenance
Tigard, OR
 If you have been getting your teeth cleaned for a while, we salute you. There are many of your friends and neighbors who can’t say the same. About a third of the population hasn’t been to the dentist in several years. We appreciate you showing up for your dental appointment. We know you think about your teeth. Do you think about your gums, though? We know they are easy to overlook. However, they are just as important as your teeth. Let Lincoln Center Smiles take a few minutes to tell you about periodontal maintenance. Turns out, periodontal maintenance is just as important as your twice-yearly teeth cleanings.
Periodontal Maintenance - What Does That Mean?
If we are talking about periodontal maintenance, we are talking about keeping your gums healthy. That is no small task because your gums take up more space in your mouth than your teeth do. Think of your gums as a framework in a building. Without a building’s framework and structure, the windows and doors cannot function - they will fall right out. Your gums, as the framework of your mouth, provide structure for your teeth and help connect your teeth to your jawbone. Without that framework, your teeth would fall out. This is why we want to pay attention to those gums, thoroughly cleaning and checking them.
What Is Periodontal Disease?
Periodontal disease is a lot like tooth decay. It begins with bacteria. Just like bacteria can eat holes in your teeth, they can eat holes in your gums as well. If you are brushing and flossing, you are getting rid of bacteria on your teeth and gums. However, if you don’t have a good dental routine, you are allowing bacteria to stay on your gums. Over time, that bacteria causes inflammation - which is stage one of periodontal disease. We can treat inflammation easily. However, once you get to stage two and three of periodontal disease, the damage has already occurred. We can treat your infection, but your gums will not be the same. It is very important to catch periodontal disease early before damage occurs.
To prevent periodontal disease, you need to have periodontal maintenance. We will check your gums for signs of inflammation or infection. If we find some, we are going to recommend you have periodontal treatment or maintenance. If you have an infection, we can treat it through a deeper cleaning method. That’s because gum infections create pockets between the teeth and gums, which means we have to clean more deeply. If we don’t, the infection will return. A continuation of infection means that your gum structure becomes weaker.
Do you think that you might have gum disease? Are you worried about your teeth and gums? If you are worried about your gums, why not give us a call, and let us schedule you an appointment to come in and see us? Call Lincoln Center Smiles today at (503) 598-0898? We want to help you take the best care of your gums as possible. Call us today! |
