In order to keep your mouth as healthy as possible, you need to prioritize your gum health. Gum disease can cause all kinds of problems for your teeth and your other oral tissues. Today our Saint Louis dentist office is going to be telling you how periodontal disease may harm your smile if this infection is left untreated for a considerable period of time.
In the short-term, gum disease may cause you to suffer from bad breath, bleeding gum tissue, and receding gum tissue. This is the time when you want to nip gum infections in the bud—before they intensify!
Over time, if left untreated, gum disease will intensify and spread throughout the mouth. At this stage of infection gum disease turns into periodontal disease.
Once periodontal disease has taken hold of your smile, you might suffer from:
· Periodontal pockets—gaps between your teeth and gum tissue in which food particles and bacteria accumulate
· Increased dental sensitivity due to gum tissue recession
· Cavities in previously healthy dental enamel
· Loosened connective tissues—this can cause your teeth to feel loose or shift around
· Tooth loss
· Bone tissue deterioration—periodontal disease is capable of spreading to your bone tissue and weakening it
As you can see, periodontal disease can destroy a patient’s smile. That is why it is so important to work with a dentist to get the prompt and proactive dental treatment that you need as soon as you notice signs of infection.
Our Saint Louis dentist office has the tools and experience necessary to help you combat these potentially devastating infections. If you want more information about what types of procedures we use to neutralize periodontal disease, please feel free to call our dental office or submit a question for our dental team using the “Contact Us” page of our website.