Your Houston dentist wants to protect more than just your teeth. Your gums are just as important and need the same level of care. Periodontal disease causes the gums to swell, become tender, and change color, but treatment reverses the damage when caught soon enough.

1) Changing Behavior

Periodontal disease commonly stems from poor oral hygiene. One of the best things to do to help with reversing it is to increase your oral care routine.

Twice daily brushing to remove plaque is the key to preventing periodontal disease. When this plaque hardens, it protects bacteria that cause your gums to swell and become uncomfortable.

In addition to increasing brushing frequency, you may need to make other changes, such as stopping smoking.

Getting treatment for an underlying problem like diabetes can also help with gum disease.

2) Removing Tartar

Hardened plaque, known as tartar or calculus, is the main culprit in periodontal disease. Local Houston periodontists treat patients using a specialized cleaning known as scaling and root planing.

Scaling scrapes the tartar from your teeth and root planing smooths out the roots of your teeth to prevent bacteria from congregating easily on the roots.

The process can be a bit uncomfortable, but it is a lot better than suffering with periodontal disease.

3) Post Periodontal Disease Treatment Evaluation

After about four weeks from your periodontal disease treatment, your Houston dentist will want to evaluate your teeth and gums to ensure the treatment was successful.

This treatment is effective enough to bring back having healthy gums.

Further investigation reveals underlying causes of gum disease, such as diabetes and heart problems.

4) Occlusal Bite Therapy

The swelling and damage to your gums can cause shifts in your teeth, and it’s important to realign them to prevent bite disorders.

Once the swelling has been eliminated due to treatment, occlusal bite therapy will address loose teeth, bruxism, and other issues that cause periodontal disease.

5) Surgery

In the worst cases of periodontal disease, surgery may be necessary to treat the problem. Most commonly, the surgery will involve small incisions into the gums to clean the roots of teeth.

If a lot of damage has been done by the gum disease, regenerative therapies may also be used. These can involve soft tissue or bone grafts, and some may feature a synthetic graft that helps guide tissue regeneration.