Gum Disease Treatment – Barnegat, NJ
Therapy for Your Infected Gums
Remember, teeth aren’t the only parts of your mouth to look after. The pink tissue around them is just as crucial to oral health. If you don’t look after it, you could easily suffer from gum disease. Still, the latter issue isn’t unsolvable. Just visit our office for gum disease treatment! At Nu Dental of Barnegat, this therapy eases your infection and helps your gums heal. To learn more about it, continue reading or book a consultation today.
Why Choose Us for Gum Disease Treatment?
- We Utilize Laser Dentistry
- A Highly-Trained Dental Team
- Evening/Saturday Appointments
What is Gum Disease?
Put simply, gum disease is an infection that damages the tissue around teeth. It’s usually caused by plaque buildup, often due to bad oral hygiene. However, other possible causes include genetics, medications, and hormonal changes.
Overall, there are two main types of gum disease. The first is gingivitis, the ailment’s earliest stage that causes inflammation. Meanwhile, the second form is periodontitis – an advanced infection that destroys gum and jaw tissue. While gingivitis can be reversed by improved oral care, periodontitis can only be managed to prevent worse effects.
Symptoms of Gum Disease
Overall, the symptoms of gum disease can vary. Which you show will depend on your infection’s severity.
Common signs of gingivitis include:
- Chronic bad breath
- Red or swollen gums
- Bleeding gums
- Gum tenderness
- Dark red gums
- Gum recession
In contrast, the typical signs of periodontitis are:
- Chewing pain
- Loose permanent teeth
- Tooth sensitivity (often as a result of gum recession)
- A shift in your bite
- Changes in your restoration’s fit
- Permanent tooth loss
How Do We Treat Gum Disease?
Before treatment, our dentists will perform an oral exam. This step lets them confirm the exact state of your gums. From there, they’ll review their findings and discuss your potential treatment options.
At Nu Dental of Barnegat, these options are the following:
Scaling & Root Planing
Scaling and root planing is a deep cleaning below the patient’s gumline. The procedure removes tartar, plaque, and bacteria that inflame your gum tissue.
Generally, scaling and root planing is done over two dental visits. The dentist cleans one half of your mouth in the first and the other half in the second. After eliminating plaque and bacteria, they’ll then smooth out your tooth roots. Doing so ensures your gums are healthily reattached to tooth structures.
Antibiotic Treatment
With antibiotics, dentists can target and eliminate the microbes that cause gum disease. So, a practice may offer one to treat your gums. How the antibiotic works will depend on which kind you get.
At our office, we happen to use Arestin microspheres. These spread Minocycline into your gum pockets to treat infected areas. The medicine is released over two weeks, so you won’t need to take a pill or regularly use a mouth rinse.
Osseous Surgery
As a treatment, osseous surgery is unique. It reduces the pockets around your teeth, thus keeping plaque and bacteria from hiding in them.
There are two kinds of osseous surgery. The traditional one makes incisions to reach your tooth roots. (That way, it can reshape the bone around teeth to remove deep pockets.) In contrast, the newer method uses a laser to kill bacteria while keeping healthy tissue safe.