What Exactly is Gum Disease?

What Exactly is Gum Disease? 

Gum Disease is a very common disease. Ingber dental has been very successful in treating all stages of Gum Disease. Ingber Dental is fortunate to have very skilled, seasoned hygienists who in combination with our experienced dentists have been exceptionally successful in treating all stages of Gum Disease In addition, Ingber Dental has a visiting periodontist on staff. 

The term Gum Disease refers to a family of diseases of the oral cavity all affecting the support of your dentition. Teeth are tied into the supporting bone by fibers called the periodontal ligament (PDL.) The usual first stage of Gum Disease is gingivitis, inflammation of the gum tissue. ‘Gingiva’ is the dental term for ‘Gum.’ 

The Mayo Clinic defines Gingivitis ‘as a common and mild form of Gum Disease (periodontal disease) that causes irritation, redness and swelling (inflammation) of your gingiva, the part of your gum around the base of your teeth. It’s important to take gingivitis seriously and treat it promptly. Gingivitis can lead to much more serious gum disease called periodontitis and tooth loss. 

The initial treatment for gingivitis involves a thorough diagnosis by Dr. Ingber or one of his Associate Dentists ( Drs. Aynur Ismayil and Kaitlin Delanney) followed by one or more of our hygienists gently working with the individual patients to establish the best home care dental habits and concurrently providing a thorough professional tooth cleaning. All pertinent data is recorded in order to provide for our patients a record of progress at each appointment. 

The above diagram illustrates how periodontitis can lead to tooth loss. Once the Gum Disease in the stage of Gingivitis progresses further into periodontitis, the PDL breaks away due to the infection present and at the same time the bone support is reduced. 

The gum (gingival) collar around the forms a sulcus. The gingival sulcus is the normal healthy state of gingival tissue. The normal depth of the sulcus is 1-3 millimeters. The PDL is attached to the tooth, there is no bleeding and the gum is tightly adapted to the tooth. 

In early stages of Gum Disease (Gingivitis), the tissue is not as firmly adapted to the tooth, the sulcus can become deeper, greater than 3 millimeters. There usually is some bleeding with brushing. If this is not reversed by some combination of appropriate tooth brushing and flossing and professional cleaning, this reversible disease will almost certainly progress to the above mentioned periodontitis. Periodontitis is often referred to as Pyorrhea. 

The stages of pyorrhea usually proceed, if not appropriately treated , to tooth loss. There is a continuum of stages of Pyorrhea. It usually is not confined to one tooth. It is a bacterial disease which can often be widespread in a dentition. 

Ingber Dental is fortunate to have a visiting periodontist to help diagnose and treat our patients who have Gum Disease. 

If you want more information or have questions regarding gum disease please contact Dr. Ingber at [email protected]