Gum Disease & Tooth Loss Facts, from Your Park Ridge Implant Dentists

When it comes to your oral health, knowledge really is power. There are myriad oral health issues that can affect your smile, and understanding how they develop and the destruction they can wreak will better prepare you to protect your smile’s integrity. For instance, many people are aware that gum disease is a serious and widespread problem, but not everyone is aware of gum disease’s warning signs, and their neglect can allow the infection to invade their gums and cause serious damage without their knowledge. Below, your Park Ridge implant dentists list a few important things you should know about the prevention, progression, and destruction of gum disease, and how its damage can lead to extensive tooth loss if not treated promptly.

Destroying Your Smile’s Foundation

• Gum disease begins with a relatively minor bacterial infection, which results from excessive bacterial plaque (a byproduct of oral bacteria). Good dental hygiene focuses on controlling plaque and its calcified form, tartar, but prevention isn’t always guaranteed even with diligent care.
• Gingivitis, the infection that kick-starts gum disease, is marked by red, swollen, and bleeding gums. Though they may look irritated and inflamed, bleeding gums don’t typically hurt, and patients often disregard the bit of blood they see when brushing and flossing their teeth. The neglect allows gingivitis to progress into gum disease and facilitates serious damage to your gum tissue.
• When left untreated, severe gum disease can literally destroy the gums and jawbone that support your teeth. In many cases, by the time a patient seeks treatment for their gum disease, enough of this foundation has eroded to cause the loss of one or more teeth. Consequently, gum disease is the number one cause of adult tooth loss in America.
• Once gum disease develops, treating it largely involves restoring the damage it’s caused (after thoroughly removing all infected tissues). If you’ve lost one or more teeth to gum disease, then replacing them with one or more dental implants can help you maintain your jawbone’s integrity by preventing its further destruction. As prosthetic tooth roots, implants provide stimulation when you bite and chew that facilitates a healthy supply of nutrients to your jawbone, keeping it healthy enough to support your tooth roots and dental implants.

Your Park Ridge Implant Dentists Can Help You Prevent Gum Disease & Tooth Loss

If you’d like to learn more or seek professional help in preventing gum disease and tooth loss, then schedule an appointment with your Park Ridge implant dentists by calling Loukas General Dentistry at (847) 696-1919. Located in the 60068 area, we proudly serve patients from Park Ridge and the surrounding Chicago communities.