Toronto Dental Implants Gum disease can be very painful and occurs in 4 stages.
The first and mildest stage is gingivitis. It is usually treated effectively after a good cleaning that involves scaling and root planing. Adhering to a comprehensive oral hygiene regimen will prevent gingivitis from reoccurring. The next three stages of gum disease have many of the same symptoms with gradually worsening severity. The symptoms of gum disease include painful and swollen gums that bleed when you brush or floss, bad breath, a receding gum line, and eventually tooth loss. Your periodontist can provide you with more information on how to prevent and treat gum disease. Some treatments require surgery, but if gum disease is treated at the first sign, you can avoid surgery. If, however, you do experience some tooth loss, your periodontist can provide you with a dental implant. Read on to find out the answers to some of the most common questions regarding dental implants and other treatment options. For Toronto dental implants, click here to meet the team at Cumberland Periodontics. What Are Some Surgical Treatments?
When gum disease advances, bacteria start to eat away at the healthy tissues in your mouth including gum tissue, bone, and teeth. At this stage, the damage that’s been done cannot be reversed but further damage can be prevented with surgery. Flap/Pocket Reduction Surgery Similar to root planing and scaling but more invasive, flap surgery requires a periodontist to cut away portions of your gum to clean away the tartar build-up underneath them. Irregular, jagged edges of the teeth may also be smoothed over to reduce bacteria build-up. Bone Grafts This treatment option is for patients who have lost bone due to gum disease. A piece of your bone (or, in some cases synthetic or donated bone) is attached to your bone with the hope that new bone tissue can be grown to make your teeth more stable. Soft Tissue Grafts This procedure involves taking gum tissue from elsewhere in your mouth (usually the roof of your mouth) and stitching it onto areas that have receded gum tissue. Like with a bone graft, the objective is to encourage new tissue development and add stability to your teeth. Guided Tissue Regeneration This treatment option is reserved for patients who have both bone and gum tissue loss. A piece of mesh fabric is inserted between the two new grafts so that they don’t grow together. What Are Dental Implants? A dental implant is a metal post that acts as a prosthesis for a tooth’s natural root. A periodontist will insert the implant directly into your jawbone. The dental implants support any prosthetic teeth such as a crown or a bridge. Dental implants are used when a patient has partial tooth loss. The procedure is not painful as the patient’s mouth has been numbed with local anesthesia, but as this wears off some discomfort is to be expected. If you think Toronto dental implants may be right for you, then give Cumberland Periodontics a call today.