The Stages of Periodontal Disease

We want you to be aware of how gums can go from healthy to severely infected with periodontal (gum) disease.  Be on the alert for the signs and symptoms and if you suspect you may have gum disease, don’t wait to see a dentist.  Remember that gum disease is related to systemic disease, so keeping your gums healthy also helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other illness.

Healthy gums have a healthy, pink color.  The gumline hugs the teeth tightly and there is no bleeding.

The first stage of gum disease is called gingivitis.  When you have gingivitis your gums bleed easily when you brush or when your gums are probed gently during a dental examination.  Gums with gingivitis are inflamed and can be sensitive to the touch.  Sometimes with gingivitis there is possible bad breath and a bad taste in the mouth.  The gums between your teeth may look blush-red in color.

The next stage is early periodontitis.  At this stage the gums may begin to pull away from the teeth.  The bleeding is more pronounced and gum puffiness and inflammation is more pronounced as well.  There is bad breath and bad taste with early periodontitis.  On the dental x-rays the dentist can see slight horizontal bone loss.  Pockets of 3-4mm between the teeth and the gums are in one or more areas of the mouth.

The disease progresses to moderate periodontitis in which gum boils or abscesses may develop.  The teeth look longer as gums begin to recede from the normal position against the teeth.  Your front teeth may begin to drift and show spaces between the teeth.  There’s bad breath and bad taste.  There is both horizontal and irregular bone loss on the x-ray.  You would have pockets between teeth and gums that range from 4-6mm deep.

With advanced periodontis your teeth may become mobile or loose.  Bad breath and bad taste are constant.  The roots of your teeth may be exposed and are sensitive to hot and cold.  There’s severe horizontal bone loss and varying heights of bone on x-rays.  The pockets between the teeth and the gums are now in excess of 6mm deep.

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Keeping Your Baby's Teeth Healthy

baby teeth

Brushing is the most important thing for your baby's dental care, but those precious teeth need more than just regular cleanings to stay healthy. Below are a number of ways to keep your child's teeth in top shape for life.

Minerals and vitamins: Your baby needs the right building blocks to construct her pearly whites, and that means an adequate intake of calcium, phosphorus, fluoride, and other minerals and vitamins (particularly Vitamin C, which is a great to keep gums healthy).

Give cheese: Can't brush baby's teeth after she's had a high-carb or sugary snack? Slip her a slice of cheese. In addition to their high calcium content, cheeses, like Swiss and cheddar, encourage saliva production, which helps clear cavity-causing acids and sugars from the mouth.

Sugar: It may seem impossible to completely avoid sugars in your baby's diet, but you'll want to limit them as much as possible — particularly refined sugars (which are found in, of all things, commercial teething biscuits) and sticky natural sugars (such as those in dried fruits). Keep sweets to an asbolute minimum — no more than once or twice a day — and serve only with meals.

Use cups: Your baby may still love her bottle, but you'll want to get her used to drinking from a cup. Bottles and sippy cups containing milk or juice have been associated with tooth decay because they allow the liquid to pool in baby's mouth and on the teeth. If you’re afraid your baby will make too much of a mess drinking from a cup, use a sippy with a straw or just put water or very diluted juice in the sippy.

Reduce the juice: To cut back on sugar, only offer juice in a watered-down form and only with snacks and meals, not as an all-purpose tummy filler.

No nighttime bottles: Although your baby may love the comfort her bottle provides, don't let her go to sleep with one. She may (and probably will) leave the nipple in her mouth, and the drips and drops of fluid that dribble out can be broken down into acid, which erode those newly erupted teeth. Even if your child is still without any baby teeth, ban the bottle for sleeping, because it will only be that much harder to take away later.

For information about other dental topics visit DrTav.com