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Periodontitis
How is periodontitis treated at the dentist?
The treatment plan for periodontitis and caries requires first taking an X-ray to understand the severity of the periodontitis. If the periodontitis is not severe and is merely inflammation of the gum tissue, characterized by red, swollen gums, pus discharge, or bleeding, this situation can be addressed by dental cleaning to remove local irritants, followed by medicated rinsing around the gums to improve inflammation. If the periodontitis is more severe, involving absorption of the alveolar bone, then guided bone regeneration procedures are necessary. After basic treatment of the periodontitis, the teeth enter a maintenance phase, requiring regular follow-up visits.
What to do after tooth extraction due to periodontitis?
After tooth extraction due to periodontitis, it is necessary to promptly fit a dental prosthesis. Periodontitis generally involves significant loss of the alveolar bone, leading to tooth mobility and even loss. After extracting a tooth due to periodontitis, it is essential first to observe for three months. After three months, once the absorption of the alveolar bone stabilizes, dental prosthesis can be performed. Temporary restorative measures, such as using temporary teeth, are also an option during this period. Temporary teeth generally require fitting with a permanent prosthesis after three months, at which point the temporary teeth are discarded. After fitting a permanent prosthesis, it is important to avoid hard foods since the jawbone conditions are not ideal due to periodontitis, and chewing hard objects could accelerate the absorption of the alveolar bone. Therefore, after tooth extraction due to periodontitis, temporary teeth can be worn for three months before permanent prosthetic treatment is carried out.
What department should I go to for periodontitis?
Patients with periodontitis should seek treatment in the periodontal department. If there is no periodontal department available, they can visit the department of oral medicine, or the department of stomatology or otolaryngology. Periodontitis is an inflammation of the periodontal support tissues, including gingivitis and periodontitis, with gingivitis being the early stage of periodontitis. It mainly occurs due to not brushing or rinsing promptly after eating, leading to the accumulation of food residues around the teeth. This condition requires timely teeth cleaning to remove these residues, otherwise, it could cause bleeding during brushing or eating and may further develop into periodontal pockets, leading to the appearance of periodontitis. Periodontitis might also involve the loss of alveolar bone support tissues, which requires timely dental cleaning followed by medication or a guided bone regeneration procedure.
Does periodontitis require root canal treatment?
Periodontitis is an inflammation of the tooth-supporting tissues caused by the lack of timely brushing and rinsing after eating, where food residues or soft plaque become calculus under the calcification of saliva. This condition requires tooth cleaning, which is a procedure performed around the teeth, and does not require root canal treatment. If periodontitis progresses further and bacteria from the periodontal pocket reach the root tip, it can cause inflammation around the tooth including the root tip. This may lead to a pathological condition of the dental nerve. If the root tip inflammation is caused by the retrograde action of periodontitis, root canal treatment is necessary because it affects the dental nerve. If there is no concurrent inflammation of the dental nerve, direct periodontal treatment can be performed. However, if retrograde root tip inflammation has occurred, then root canal treatment of the tooth is required.
What is periodontitis?
Periodontitis is an inflammation of the periodontal supporting tissues, including the gums, periodontal membrane, alveolar bone, and cementum. The early stages of periodontitis are mainly caused by irritants such as tartar, plaque, and soft deposits around the teeth, leading to swollen, pus-leaking gums, or bleeding during eating and brushing. If not treated promptly, tartar will adhere above and below the gums, forming supragingival and subgingival calculus. For calculus above the gums, ultrasonic cleaning, also known as dental scaling, is required. For calculus below the gums, it can be removed through curettage. If the mobility of the teeth improves after removal, the periodontitis can then enter the maintenance phase for the teeth.
Can you get your teeth cleaned during periodontitis?
Periodontitis is an inflammation of the supporting tissues around the teeth, commonly seen as gingivitis or periodontitis. In the early stages of gingivitis or periodontitis, dental calculus and soft plaque accumulate on the surface of the teeth, irritating the gum tissue and causing the gums to become red, suppurate, or even bleed. This condition requires prompt dental cleaning. Through ultrasonic oscillation, the dental calculus attached around the teeth is removed. If there is subgingival calculus, dental cleaning alone may not completely remove it, and subgingival scaling is also necessary, using specialized tools to manually remove the subgingival calculus.
How to deal with loosening of the front teeth due to periodontitis?
For periodontitis with loosening of the front teeth, an X-ray of the teeth is needed to assess the severity of the periodontitis. If the loosening of the front teeth is simply due to absorption of the alveolar bone, this can be addressed through basic periodontal treatment, which includes teeth cleaning to remove tartar, dental plaque, and other local irritants, followed by irrigation around the gums, medication application, or guided bone regeneration to improve the looseness of the teeth. However, if the periodontitis is accompanied by severe alveolar bone loss, tooth extraction may be necessary.
Is periodontal disease the same as periodontitis?
Periodontal disease includes periodontitis, but periodontal disease covers a much broader range than periodontitis. Periodontium is the supporting tissue of the teeth, which includes the gums, alveolar bone, and dental cementum, so the scope of periodontal disease is very broad, while periodontitis is just a branch of periodontal disease. Periodontitis is caused by tartar, soft plaque, or dental plaque around the teeth, which if not promptly removed by teeth cleaning, can lead to congested gums or bleeding during brushing. Severe cases can cause absorption of the alveolar bone. Once destructive absorption of the alveolar bone occurs, teeth will become loose and may even fall out. It can also be said that periodontitis is a severe stage in the further development of periodontal disease.