Seattle Dentist Periodontal Disease

A Seattle Dentist or Bellevue Dentist will often give a patient a diagnosis of periodontal disease, which affects the gums and supporting structures and tissues around your teeth. Some of the classic signs of periodontal disease, or gum disease as it is commonly called, are red, swollen, or tender gums that tend to bleed upon brushing. Other common signs of periodontal disease are:

Gums that bleed during tooth brushing
Persistent bad breath
Areas where gums have separated away from the teeth
Loose teeth
Teeth that have recently separated
Pus around the teeth and in the gums

You should visit one of the dentists at Brookside Dental immediately if you have any of the above symptoms, and especially if your gums are swollen or bleeding for any reason. You can read more about periodontal disease and healthy gums in the Brookside Dental articles Perio health creates the best cosmetic results Brookside Dental Periodontal Disease Information and Striking a Balance Healthy Gums Brookside Dental Gum Disease Information.

Irritation of the gums from partial dentures frequently is the cause of periodontal problems because of a change in the fit of the dental device. Both orthodontia appliances and partial dentures that don't fit correctly may cause red, swollen or tender gums. Since infections can arise from these types of irritations to the gums, you should have the fit of these dental apparatuses checked by your Seattle Family Dentist or Bellevue Family Dentist at the first sign of any of these problems.

It is important to note that you can have periodontal gum disease and not have any of the signs mentioned above. Most patients do not have any pain due to gum disease until the situation is extremely bad. Periodontal disease often goes undetected by the patient for that reason. To detect gum disease at an early and easily treatable stage, it is important to have regular dental checkups at your Seattle Family Dentists or Bellevue Family Dentists. Your regular checkups always should include a periodontal examination. At Brookside Dental, we do periodontal probes of the pocket depths at least once per year as part of our regular dental hygiene service to our patients. There is not any additional charge for periodontal probes at Brookside Dental.

Your Seattle Dentists or Bellevue Dentists can usually treat the early stages of periodontal disease by removing any plaque and calculus in the pockets around the affected teeth and also smoothing the root surfaces of these teeth. This treatment process is called PSRP or perioscaling and root planing. Usually, in the early stages of periodontal disease not all teeth are affected and therefore treatment is generally very successful. As the periodontal pockets become deeper and more wide spread, it becomes more difficult to treat the disease. In cases with extreme gum recession, gum grafts will be needed and for this dental procedure your Brookside Dental dentists will refer you to a periodontal specialist www.cranderegg.com or www.pnwperio.com. If you have had to have either PSRP or gum graft surgery, your Brookside Dental professionals will recommend that you go on periodontal maintenance therapy to keep your gums healthy. This maintenance therapy will involve visits to your Seattle Family Dentist or Bellevue Family Dentist either every three or every four months. In patients where the disease is difficult to control, the maintenance therapy may require frequent alternating visits between the professionals at Brookside Dental and a periodontal specialist.

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