Dealing With Gum Disease in Plano, Texas

Welcome to the 1st In Smiles blog! We are so glad that you found us. And we look forward to getting to know you better in-person. What’s on your mind today?

Are you…

…worried about your oral health?

…making a conscientious effort to take care of your gums and teeth at home?

…looking for a compassionate dentist in Plano, TX to be your partner in prevention?

Then you have found just the right dental practice! In our office, we have all the training, technology, and tools necessary to optimize your oral health all through life.

By working together we can keep your mouth clean and your smile looking great, for many years to come.

Even though your teeth are an important piece of the picture, your gums should also be a regular focal point for our preventive (and if need be, restorative) efforts.

Recognizing Gum Disease

Gum disease is a big problem in this country. And it is not always easy to spot. The symptoms of gum disease will vary depending on the stage you are in. The first stage of gum disease is known as gingivitis. This condition can result in swelling and bleeding at first and go downhill from there.

However, through an aggressive treatment approach and rigorous at-home care on your part, we’re usually able to reverse the effects of gingivitis. That’s the good part.

Unfortunately, gum disease often goes undetected until the later stages. The more serious form of gum disease is called periodontitis. During this stage, patients often have intense pain and will have developed infected pockets around the gumline.

This will not be good for your continued well-being. And periodontitis is not something you can easily ignore, as it will almost certainly spread and lead to bone loss and even total tooth loss.

One of the scariest things about gum disease is that it can show up with little to no warning. You may have experienced no discomfort, yet have advanced stages of gum disease and require immediate attention.

Another alarming thing to keep in mind is that gum disease rarely stops at destroying your smile. Recent research has even linked advanced gum disease to serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, and respiratory infections. And, get this: studies show it affects up to half of American adults!

That’s crazy, right? As horrific as all that sounds, the good news is that gum disease is preventable, treatable, and even reversible, especially in its early stages. At Least, with your Plano, TX dentist on your side, you can improve your fate.

Around here, we use the latest technology, including digital X-rays and our intraoral camera, to detect gum disease so that we can treat it accordingly.

Deep Cleaning (Scaling and Root Planing)

We’ll try to make your treatment as pleasant and painless as possible. One of the most common therapies we use to treat gum disease is deep cleaning, also known as scaling and root planing. After carefully numbing the affected area of your mouth, we’ll use our instruments to clean the plaque from your teeth and tartar buildup around and under your gums (scaling) and remove rough areas where bacteria is at in the tooth root (planing), which brushing and flossing by itself is unable to do. This will get rid of the infected areas so that your gums are able to heal. With any luck, you’ll be back on the good road before too long.

Advanced Atridox® System

In the event that deep cleaning is not enough to eliminate the bacteria in your roots, we can kick your treatment up a notch by using Atridox^®, an antibiotic that we place directly in the infected gum pockets. The antibiotic will release slowly over a period of several days as it gets rid of your infection and heals your gums.

One way or another, we’ll get the mess cleaned up!

Take the Next Step!

We hope that you will be inspired by today’s blog post to take the next step towards a clean mouth and a healthy smile!

If you suspect you have gum disease or simply haven’t been to the dentist for in a while, don’t despair! We’re here to help!

Call us today at 972-380-8105 to set-up an appointment or contact us via our online appointment form.