Gum health and periodontal care
Bleeding gums, gingivitis versus periodontitis, deep cleaning, maintenance intervals and what a periodontal chart means.
- Gum health and periodontal care
What gum inflammation can and cannot tell you about overall health
Gum inflammation is first and foremost a local sign that plaque has been sitting at the gum line, and most of the time that is the whole story. Researchers have found…
- Gum health and periodontal care
What scaling and root planing involves
Scaling and root planing is a non-surgical treatment for periodontitis in which the clinician removes plaque and hardened deposits from the root surfaces inside the gum…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Why periodontal maintenance may need more frequent visits
After periodontitis has been treated, the lost bone and fiber support does not grow back, so the pockets that remain are harder to keep clean and plaque re-forms in them…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Bad breath that returns after brushing: could your gums be involved?
Breath odor that returns quickly after brushing often comes from bacteria the brush does not reach: the back of the tongue, between the teeth and inside inflamed gum…
- Gum health and periodontal care
How dentists evaluate bone loss around teeth
Bone loss is not seen directly in the mouth; it is inferred from several measurements taken together: probing depths and where the gum attaches relative to the enamel…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Why teeth may shift when gum support changes
Teeth are held by bone and a ligament, not by the gum you can see. When periodontitis destroys some of that support, the teeth can drift, tip, flare forward or feel…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Diabetes and gum health: questions to bring to your dental team and your physician
Diabetes and gum disease affect each other. People with diabetes, especially when blood sugar is not well controlled, are more likely to develop gum disease and tend to…
- Gum health and periodontal care
How smoking changes the signs and risks of gum disease, and what to tell your dental team
Smoking is one of the strongest risk factors for gum disease that you can change, and it also hides the warning sign most people rely on. The CDC reports that smokers…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Can you brush too hard and damage your gums? Signs to look for and how to adjust
Yes. Pressing hard, using stiff bristles, or scrubbing back and forth across the gum line for years has been associated with gums that recede and with worn notches in…
- Gum health and periodontal care
What a periodontal reevaluation checks after deep cleaning, and what the results can lead to
A periodontal reevaluation repeats the gum measurements taken before your scaling and root planing, several weeks later once the tissue has had time to heal. The…
- Gum health and periodontal care
A gum problem around one tooth: why it needs a focused exam, not just a cleaning
Because plaque-driven gum disease is usually a whole-mouth condition, trouble confined to a single tooth is a clue that something local is driving it. The usual suspects…
- Gum health and periodontal care
How gum health progress is tracked over time, and why "stable" is the goal rather than "cured"
You will know by the numbers. At each follow-up, the same measurements are repeated and compared with your earlier chart: pocket depths around every tooth, which sites…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Preparing for a gum health consultation in Santa Barbara: what to bring and what to ask
Mostly by gathering information. A gum health consultation is largely measurement and conversation: the dentist or hygienist records pocket depths and bleeding around…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Why mouthwash alone cannot replace gum treatment, and where a rinse does help
No. A rinse reaches the surfaces of the mouth, but gum disease is driven by bacterial plaque and hardened tartar that are attached to the teeth and root surfaces, often…
- Gum health and periodontal care
After a deep cleaning: what is expected in the first weeks, and what deserves a call
Tender gums, a little bleeding when brushing, and teeth that react to cold are common for a few days after a deep cleaning. If local anesthetic was used, numbness…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Gum abscess or tooth abscess? Why the two need different evaluations
Both are pockets of pus, but they start in different places. A tooth abscess usually begins inside the tooth, when a dead or infected nerve lets bacteria spread out of…
- Gum health and periodontal care
When your dentist may suggest seeing a periodontist, and what that visit adds
A periodontist is a dentist with additional recognized specialty training in the gums, the bone that supports the teeth, and dental implants. Gum disease is commonly…
- Gum health and periodontal care
How to clean under and around a dental bridge without hurting your gums
Clean a bridge like the teeth it replaces, plus one extra job: the space under the false tooth and the sides of the supporting teeth, which ordinary floss cannot reach…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Deep cleaning versus a routine cleaning: what each one treats
A routine cleaning (a prophylaxis) removes plaque, tartar and stain from the visible parts of the teeth and just under the gum edge in a mouth whose supporting bone is…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Can gum disease develop without pain?
Yes, and it usually does. Gingivitis, the early stage, and periodontitis, the later stage in which the bone that holds the teeth is slowly lost, are typically painless…
- Gum health and periodontal care
What the gum pocket numbers mean at your dental exam
The numbers are probing depths in millimeters: how far a thin, blunt probe slides between the gum and the tooth, usually recorded at six points around each tooth. As…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Gingivitis versus periodontitis: why the difference changes your care
Gingivitis is inflammation of the gum alone. It is caused by plaque, and it usually reverses once a professional cleaning removes the buildup and daily brushing and…
- Gum health and periodontal care
Bleeding gums when you floss: what your dentist needs to check
Bleeding when you floss usually means the gum along the tooth is inflamed by plaque sitting at the gum line, a condition called gingivitis. It does not usually mean…