Categories: Preventive Dentistry

Ways You Can Prevent Periodontal Concerns

It goes without saying that the health of your smile is one of the most important facets of health to prioritize, even if it is not always at the forefront of your mind. Indeed, a number of dental concerns such as severe decay, chronic teeth-grinding, sleep apnea, and more can be linked to larger concerns down the line, including heart disease. What’s more, the threat of losing structures is often enough to encourage consistent preventive care, but it takes a thorough understanding of the process to fully grasp the importance of dental care. In today’s blog, your Dallas, TX dentist will take a look at the periodontal harm oral bacteria can cause and how you can stay one step ahead of it.

Do Not Overlook Flossing

From a young age, you often receive a lot of influence from parents, commercials, radio ads, and more that encourage you to floss your teeth regularly. But just how important is this step? In all honesty – very! You see, bacteria gather on and around the teeth in the form of plaque, and if allowed to continue to build up, they can create tartar that is even more difficult to remove. While brushing your teeth properly is effective at removing these deposits, a brush cannot always remove stuck or wedged food particles successfully between structures. If these particles remain, more and more bacteria will become drawn to the site, essentially inviting them beneath your gums to wreak havoc on your roots. Without proper treatment, your condition will worsen, potentially even causing the development of periodontal or gum disease. To avoid this, however, simply flossing between structures after every meal can help!

Deep Cleanings

In many situations, a person is affected by or experiencing symptoms of gum disease without even knowing it. In fact, periodontal disease is the most common dental concern out there, affecting roughly 3 million adults in the U.S. every year. What occurs is harmful bacteria latch on to the roots of your teeth and form deposits of plaque. Left unmanaged, your gums will become infected and bleed or become inflamed. What’s more, you may even experience tooth loss if you do not seek treatment immediately. Fortunately, our office can help by providing a deep cleaning to rid your roots of this infection.

During your deep clean, we will carefully but thoroughly remove these deposits in a process known as scaling, then smooth out or polish the roots in a process known as planing in order to make it more difficult for future bacteria to latch on. The process itself will take more than one visit, but proves a thorough method for preventing gum disease from spreading.