How To Cure Periodontal Disease

To keep teeth healthy, brushing and flossing are the standard oral hygiene practices, along with regular trips to the dentist. But it isn't just the condition of your teeth that affects your oral health. Your gums play an important role in keeping your teeth functional and help indicate problems that you may otherwise not see. Knowing how to treat your gum problem begins with understanding what causes the disease in the first place.

Periodontal disease develops in the gums due to many conditions. It can significantly affect the health of gums and jawbone and, if left untreated it can lead to health complications in other parts of the body. 

If you have been diagnosed with periodontal disease, you may be wondering, “Can I cure my periodontal disease?” The answer is no–periodontal disease is not curable. However, depending on the stage of development of the gum disease, there are different treatment options. While treating it early increases your chances for better results, several therapies and procedures are available to stop the disease from progressing at later stages.  

Periodontal disease refers to the presence of infection or inflammation in the gums that can progress, causing soft tissue damage as well as tooth and bone loss. Knowing how to treat gum disease will help you avoid some of these tragic results. 

The first stage of periodontal disease is called gingivitis. This stage is a red flag indicating that action is needed to prevent permanent damage. But can gingivitis be cured? Fortunately, the answer is yes–but it requires persistent work on your part. However, if left untreated, gingivitis turns into periodontitis, a much more serious stage of periodontal disease. 

While in the gingivitis stage, your oral health can fully recover if treated promptly. With consistent brushing and flossing and basic cleanings at the dentist, gingivitis can go away without further treatment. If you notice that your gums are:

• Red.

• Swollen.

• Starting to recede. 

• Bleeding.

It is time to kick your oral hygiene into action to avoid gum disease. Prolonged exposure to inflammation from periodontitis can lead to major health complications like heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's Disease.[1] But with the proper treatment, consistent oral hygiene, and following your dentist's advice, you can still live a healthy, long life while managing your gum disease. 

Gingivitis can be reversed with good oral hygiene, but once it progresses to periodontitis, it becomes incurable. However, with proper treatment, you can slow its progression and manage the symptoms. 

Understanding how to control periodontitis starts with a trip to the dentist. To prevent periodontitis from worsening, your dentist will recommend treating your gums by removing any bacteria-filled plaque buildup above and below the gum line. Eradicating the bacteria that has been infecting your gums will stop the spread of periodontitis. 

While you cannot fully cure periodontitis, you can control it through treatment. After your dentist treats your gums, your oral health will need to continue to be monitored with regular dental appointments to ensure the periodontitis doesn't progress further.

When plaque isn't removed, it hardens. When this hardened plaque, called calculus, builds up around the base of a tooth, the gums become inflamed, causing them to pull away. This creates a pocket in the gums around the root of the tooth. If left untreated, these pockets fill with bacteria and plaque, causing them to become deeper and leaving more of the tooth's roots exposed. 

To treat this problem, your hygienist will perform a deep cleaning also known as a scaling and deep cleaning, this will deep clean the teeth, removing calculus above and below the gum line while disinfecting the pockets.

Scaling and root planing is a deep cleaning procedure designed to treat gum disease by removing plaque, tartar, and bacteria that accumulate beneath the gumline. It is a two-step process that prevent further damage to the gums and supports their healing. 

The first step, scaling, removes hardened plaque and bacteria from the teeth and below the gumline, reaching areas that brushing and flossing cannot. This deep cleaning eliminates infection-causing buildup and reduces gum inflammation. 
The second step, root planing, smooths the tooth roots to remove rough spots where bacteria tend to cling. By creating a cleaner surface, it allows the gums to heal and reattach to the teeth, reducing pocket depth and preventing further gum recession.[2]

To enhance scaling and root planing, laser bacterial decontamination uses targeted energy to eliminate deep-seated bacteria, reduce inflammation, and promote faster healing. This advanced technology improves precision, minimizes discomfort, and lowers the risk of reinfection, making gum disease treatment more effective and less invasive.

While scaling and root planing are the go-to procedures for addressing periodontal disease, some cases work better when coupled with a medication. For patients who have aggressive periodontal disease or who continue to see gum recession progress after scaling and root planing, taking an antibiotic or other oral medications can give you better results with gum reattachment and overall oral benefit.[3]

Antimicrobial mouth rinse, either an over-the-counter or prescription mouthwash, can reduce bacteria and plaque on your teeth. A study comparing antibacterial mouthwashes to flossing shows that the prescription mouthwash, chlorhexidine gluconate, reduced bacteria and significantly decreased gingivitis.[4]

There are also non-antibiotic treatments for patients with deep dental pockets, such as a chlorhexidine chip placed inside the pocket to slowly release the antimicrobial agent over 30 days or a gel applied directly to the site. Chlorhexidine works by reducing bacterial growth and preventing plaque accumulation, helping to control infection and promote gum healing.[5]

If periodontitis severely damages the gums or jawbone, surgical procedures may be required to restore lost tissue. Gum grafting is a surgical procedure that covers exposed tooth roots with healthy gum tissue, preventing further recession and reducing tooth sensitivity. The graft tissue is typically taken from the patient's soft palate or, in some cases, from a processed donor source or synthetic material.

Regenerative procedures can be used to stimulate natural growth, even when significant bone has been destroyed by the gum disease. After the gums are folded back and thoroughly cleaned of any bacteria, proteins can be used to encourage the regrowth of healthy gums. Bone grafting can also be done at this time to stimulate new bone cells to regrow around the graft.[6]

While periodontal disease can be slowed, ongoing maintenance and follow-up treatment are essential to support your oral health. To catch gum disease before it progresses and causes damage to your gum tissue, teeth, and jawbone, be sure to keep regular appointments with your dentist. If your dentist has already noted the presence of gum disease in your mouth, follow all treatment recommendations to reduce the chances of further damage.