Gum disease

Has your dentist ever mentioned “pocketing” around your teeth? Do you gums ache or ever feel swollen? If you answered yes to any of these, you most likely have symptoms of gum disease, or gingivitis. Gingivitis is a infection around your teeth and gums that can cause your gum tissue to pull away from your teeth and can lead to a more serious chronic infection called, Periodontitis, where you actually lose the bone around your teeth and your teeth may start to get loose and come out. It is very important to have your Dentist check around your gums to make sure you don’t have the signs of infection that can shorten the life of your teeth.

Bacteria that reside in between your teeth and gums cause inflammation. Inflammation is increase in blood flow, where the body sends in it’s defense, which are the white blood cells that are present in our blood. The bacteria can then get access to the blood stream and infect other areas of the body. Bacteria that lives in the mouth has even been found in the buildup in our heart blood vessels which cause heart attacks and strokes. This is why it is important to keep the inflammation around our gums in check so that we can reduce risk factors for other life threatening conditions. But, if your Dentist does tell you that you have gum disease or periodontal disease there are treatments that can help. See our “deep cleaning” tab for more information.