Periodontal Health

When it comes to ensuring a healthy smile for life, it is going to take more than just preventive brushing at home. In fact, your grin’s health is largely dependent on a combination of brushing and flossing, paying mind to the potential harm that certain foods and beverages you consume can have on your teeth, and attending routinely scheduled dental appointments. But how important can the latter step be? In today’s blog, your North Hollywood, CA dentist will take a look at what occurs during your routine preventive visit and why it is such an integral portion of your routine.

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Problems with your periodontal health can be more consequential than you realize. Over time, an infection can worsen to the point of becoming difficult to treat. People who struggle with advanced gum disease can be vulnerable to other health issues, and their risk for losing teeth will rise! Fortunately, the symptoms of gingivitis can be identified without your dentist’s help. That means you can recognize that something might be wrong and take care of it before the problem grows harder to manage. Our North Hollywood, CA dentist’s office is also here to help those with periodontal issues. In addition to regular preventive dental care provide during your routine oral health exams, we can offer scaling and root planing to directly address bacteria that have built up under your gum line. (more…)

Though there are several different potential causes of adult tooth loss, severe gum disease (or periodontal disease) is the most frequent one. Unlike conditions that directly threaten your tooth’s healthy, natural structure, such as a fracture, break, or decay forming in it, gum disease progresses by eroding the tissues and bone structures that support your teeth roots. Because of this, many patients who don’t seek treatment promptly for their gum disease can experience tooth loss or a need for tooth extraction by the time they do. This also means that, if you have gum disease, then seeking treatment for it as soon as possible can go a long way in controlling your risks of tooth loss.

How gum disease leads to tooth loss

As a progressive issue, gum disease goes through different stages before it causes you to lose one or more teeth. It begins as an infection in your gums, called gingivitis, that’s caused by an excessive buildup of oral bacteria underneath them. This buildup and the irritation it causes can make your gum tissues recede from your teeth, allowing more bacteria to accumulate underneath them and exacerbate the infection. As it progresses, gum disease causes rampant inflammation in the gum tissues, which leads to increasingly worse tissue damage and, in severe cases, an erosion of the bone structure underneath them.

Identifying gum disease in its early stages

Because gum disease is a progressive problem, the best way to deal with it is to prevent it from forming in the first place. However, good dental hygiene and preventive dental care aren’t always a guarantee, which is why it’s just as important to know how to spot gingivitis in its early stages and to seek treatment for it as soon as possible if you do. For instance, when gingivitis first develops, you may notice extreme redness in one or more areas of your gum tissues. These or other areas might also become inflamed, or swollen, and you may notice them bleeding when you brush and floss your teeth. These may all be signs of the damage that gum disease has begun to cause, and should be a warning for you to seek appropriate treatment for it as soon as possible.

Learn how to manage your gum disease

Severe gum disease is the leading cause of adult tooth loss, but you can lower your chances of losing teeth to it by successfully managing gum disease in its early stages. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

If you never develop a gummy smile, then you may never need cosmetic gum contouring. However, for patients who do exhibit an uneven gum line, the asymmetrical outline of their gum tissues can affect more than just their smiles’ appearance. In some cases, it can also negatively impact the state of their periodontal health, and have a complicated influence on the long-term state of their oral health. Today, we examine three ways in which contouring an uneven gum line can improve your smile and oral health, including creating a more attractive frame around your smile.

1. The overall appearance of your smile

A smile that has an uneven gum line is often called a gummy smile because its appearance is often the most noticeable feature of the condition. Whether your gums are severely uneven or only slight out of alignment, the impact to your smile’s appearance can be a highly motivating factor in choosing to address your gummy smile. With gum contouring, your dentist can carefully trim the areas of your gums that cover more of your tooth structure than other areas, creating a more symmetrical and cosmetically appealing outline for your smile.

2. Your chances of preventing gum disease

The development of gum disease can result from numerous factors depending on the unique state of your oral health. Yet, when your gums are uneven, the risks of it occurring are even greater. Gum disease forms when oral bacteria work their way underneath your gums, which allows them to form plaque on the surfaces of your teeth roots rather than on their visible crowns. From here, it’s impossible to remove the bacteria by brushing and flossing it away, and before long, they can lead to the beginning of gum disease. When your gum line is straighter and more even, it’s easier to keep them consistently clean of bacteria and control your risks of developing gum disease.

3. The long-term health of your smile

The formation of gum disease can occur easier when your gums are uneven, but straightening them with gum contouring can improve other aspects of your oral health as well. For example, if your gums cover more of your tooth structure in some areas, it can make it more difficult to keep the tooth structure itself consistently clean and healthy. Your risks of developing issues such as tooth decay or missing signs of other trouble may be higher until you straighten your gum line with gum contouring.

Learn what gum contouring can improve for you

By carefully contouring your gum line, you can improve several different aspects of your smile and oral health. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

For people who don’t have gum disease, terms like gingivitis can seem like vague concerns that don’t really concern them. However, not everyone who has gum disease knows it, or realizes that gingivitis is the first stage of it, and ignoring it will allow the disease to become a much bigger threat to their smiles before long. Today, we explore what having gingivitis really means for your smile, and why its seemingly minor early symptoms should be considered significant warnings.

The symptoms that seem minor

Gingivitis, or early gum disease, develops over time as certain types of harmful oral bacteria accumulate along your gum line. This can lead to many of the bacteria shifting underneath the tissues, where you can’t brush and floss them away, leading to an infection in your gums. This infection is referred to as gingivitis, and as it develops, you may notice early signs such as redness, swelling, and bleeding in your gum tissues. However, in its early stages, the visible impacts of gingivitis are relatively minor, and for many patients, they’re easy to overlook until they become more serious.

The progression of a serious problem

If you don’t heed the warning of early gingivitis signs, or if you don’t notice them at first, then gingivitis will progress and begin to affect much more of your periodontal health. The infection progresses and the damage to your gum tissues becomes more significant, potentially leading to permanent erosion of some of the tissues. In severe cases, gum disease can affect the jawbone structure underneath your gum tissues, as well, creating a domino effect that weakens your dental ridge and can lead to the loss of one or more teeth.

The potentially severe consequences

Because of the sometimes discreet nature of gum disease’s progression, many people experience its severe stages before they seek treatment for it. This may also contribute to severe gum disease being the most common cause for adults to lose one or more teeth. However, the presence of severe gum disease can also have potentially severe consequences well beyond your oral health. In some cases, the chronic inflammation that accompanies the condition can also lead to heightened risks of developing other chronic inflammatory conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Learn what gingivitis could mean for your smile

If you develop gingivitis, the condition can be a sign of a greater threat to your smile than you might realize at first. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

Despite the fact that oral health problems like gum disease and tooth decay are common, the truth is that they don’t often lead to severe consequences for most people. The caveat, however, is that most people address the problem before it’s allowed to become severe. For people who don’t, the consequences of a chronic oral health condition can be much more severe than they realize. That can be especially true for gum disease, which impacts the health and integrity of your smile’s entire foundation.

It starts before you know it

Gum disease doesn’t announce itself proudly when it first develops. In fact, the lack of any fanfare, or noticeable symptoms, is one of the reasons why it’s allowed to develop in the first place. Gingivitis, the first stage of gum disease, develops when oral bacteria overwhelm your gum tissues, but they don’t begin to cause real damage until they work their way underneath the tissues. Even when you believe you’re effectively cleaning your teeth and gum line, these bacteria will remain out of reach. Until your dentist cleans them away, they may have the chance to infect your gums, which leads to gingivitis and the gradual progression of gum disease.

Why every symptom is a serious one

When gingivitis first develops, it does cause some symptoms to develop that you can notice if you’re diligent. For example, the presence of the oral bacteria underneath your gums can cause some of the tissue to become red and irritated. Inflammation, or chronic swelling, is also a common sign, as well as one of the most destructive aspects of gum disease. Many people may notice the early signs of gingivitis, but due the lack of discomfort, they may underestimate how serious they can be.

The severe consequences it can lead to

The symptoms of gum disease that seem minor at first are actually signs of the destruction that gum disease can lead to when it progresses. For example, the slight swelling in your gums occurs because of the presence of certain oral bacteria that manipulate your immune system. They make it impossible for your gums to regulate inflammation on their own, which causes the swelling to grow out of control and lead to significant tissue damage. In severe cases, this also erodes the integrity of the underlying jawbone structure, potentially leading to tooth loss.

Learn more about the threat of gum disease

Gum disease can become a bigger threat than many people realize, and waiting to address it is a common reason why it’s allowed to progress so severely. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

While dental treatment can mean different things depending on your specific oral health concerns, one of the most consistent factors in it is the need to address the concern as soon as possible. This is especially true in the case of gum disease, which is the most frequent cause behind tooth loss. The longer it takes to address your gum disease, the higher your risks of losing one more teeth to it will be. Today, we take a look at the dangers of gum disease, and why it’s important to treat it before it causes significant damage to your oral tissues and structures.

The progression of gum disease

Gum disease is a progressive problem that may not seem very severe at first, but can systematically destroy the gums and jawbone structure that form the foundation of your smile. The damage that gum disease causes to your gum tissues is significant, and it grows increasingly worse the longer it progresses. Yet, these symptoms can seem minor at first, or be easy to miss, which can often allow the disease to grow more severe before patients seek treatment for it.

How it leads to tooth loss

Because gum disease primarily impacts your gum tissues rather than your teeth, many people are surprised to learn that it’s the leading cause of tooth loss, or that they may lose one or more teeth to it. However, your gums (or periodontal tissues) play a significant role in your smile’s health and integrity, and in the stability of your teeth and their roots. When gum disease progresses severely enough, it can also erode the health and integrity of your jawbone structure, making it weaker and causing it to lose its grip on one or more of your teeth.

How to protect your smile from it

The fact that gum disease is progressive is an important reason why it doesn’t always lead to tooth loss. When you detect and treat gum disease early enough, you can stop it from causing significant enough damage to cost you one or more teeth. However, if it’s severe enough, then protecting your smile from gum disease may require ongoing maintenance to keep the disease and its related tissues inflammation under control.

Learn how to successfully treat gum disease

Gum disease can be your greatest risk for tooth loss, but treating it can help you preserve your smile more successfully. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

The biggest advantage to preventing the development of oral health concerns, like gum disease, is avoiding the potential impacts that they can have on your long-term oral health. In addition to the extent of treatment required to address your condition, the effects of decayed tooth structure or diseased gum tissues can have longer lasting impacts than you might realize. Today, we examine a few ways in which gum disease can complicate your oral and systemic health, and how seeking treatment for it as soon as possible can help you avoid many of these complications.

Preserving your healthy, natural teeth

Gum disease develops and progresses within your periodontal tissues, or gums. Yet, the severe form of the disease (known as periodontitis) is the most frequent cause of tooth loss for adults. In addition to your periodontal tissues, your jawbone structure and the ligaments supporting your teeth roots are all part of your smile’s foundation. As periodontitis progresses, it can cause enough damage to all of these tissues and structures as to leave one or more teeth without an adequate level of support. This makes preserving your healthy, natural smile not just more complicated, but impossible until you get your periodontal disease under control.

Managing your overall systemic risks

The infection that oral bacteria can cause within your periodontal tissues is the leading cause of the development of early gum disease. The infection, known as gingivitis, also marks the beginning of unchecked inflammation within the tissues, and as it grows worse, so does the swelling in your gums. This rampant inflammation is one of the most significant concerns of severe gum disease, and when left unchecked, it can influence your overall systemic health and the integrity of your immune system. This can make the presence of severe gum disease a significant risk factor chronic inflammatory health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and more.

Keeping your smile healthy in the future

Maintaining your good oral health long-term requires quickly and effectively managing any oral health concern that may arise, preferably before it causes significant damage. In the case of gum disease, any damage that your gums sustained or any natural teeth that have been lost can continue to impact your oral and systemic health. For example, gum disease can’t be reversed, and after repairing the damage to your gums and replacing your lost teeth (if necessary), maintaining the health of your smile could also require ongoing periodontal maintenance.

Learn how to make gum disease less complicated

Gum disease affects more of your oral and systemic health the more it’s allowed to progress. To learn more about treating it early, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

Gum disease is one of the most frequent chronic oral health conditions that adults have to deal with, and the severe stages of the disease are the leading factors in most cases of adult tooth loss. However, the reason why not everyone who has gum disease experiences tooth loss is because it can often be successfully treated and managed before it gets that severe. Today, we examine a few signs that could mean you have a gum disease problem, and why it’s important not to ignore the warning signs if you notice them.

The bleeding you see when you brush and floss

Bleeding in your gums when you brush and floss your teeth can be caused by other things besides gum disease. For instance, if you brush or floss too aggressively, it might cause your gums and oral tissues to bleed slightly. However, if it occurs frequently, or every time you brush and floss, then it’s more likely a sign of a problem with your gum tissues – namely, the formation of gingivitis (or early gum disease). This describes an infection in your gums that results from oral bacteria buildup, and it causes the erosion of your gum tissues that gets increasingly worse as gum disease progresses.

The bad breath that gets increasingly worse

Bad breath is another thing that most people experience sometimes, even when their teeth and gums are healthy. However, that’s usually in the form of morning breath, which can be brushed and rinsed away, or the remnants of eating pungent foods like onions, which will go away on its own in a few hours. When your bad breath is consistent and continues to grow worse, it’s usually a symptom of an underlying oral health condition, such as gum disease eroding your healthy gum tissues. Chronic bad breath could also be an early indicator of excessive bacteria buildup, and a warning to visit your dentist for preventive treatment before gum disease develops.

The recession, or pulling away, of your gums

When your gums become diseased, the irritation and inflammation in the gum tissues can cause them serious harm. Particularly, the inflamed tissues will start to pull away from the teeth that they’re meant to support and protect, leaving pockets for more oral bacteria to accumulate and cause more harm to your gums. You may notice this recession as your teeth seem to become longer in certain areas, which is actually the result of the tissues that frame the tooth receding and exposing the tooth’s root.

Find out if you need gum disease treatment

If you notice signs that your gum health might be in trouble, then it’s important to seek treatment for your gum disease as soon as possible. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.

If you don’t have gingivitis, then the condition may not seem that serious. It’s most often mentioned in commercials for dental hygiene products, and rarely discussed as the precursor to the more serious conditions of gum disease. Because of this, it can be easy for patients to overlook the early signs of gingivitis and the importance of taking them seriously. This can allow the condition time to progress into much more serious gum disease, leading to increased risks of tooth loss and more complex oral health problems.

What gingivitis is the start of

Gum disease isn’t the same thing for everyone, and in its earliest stage, the symptoms that it might produce typically don’t seem too serious. This early stage is known as gingivitis, and it describes an infection in your gums that develops when oral bacteria infect your gum tissues. Despite the potentially serious consequences of gum disease, it can often be successfully prevented with minimal effort. For example, by brushing your teeth twice every day and flossing at least once, you can vastly improve your chances of preventing oral bacteria from accumulating on your gum line enough to infect the tissues.

What increases your risks of it?

The main cause of gingivitis and gum disease development is the buildup of oral bacteria, which is why physically cleaning away these bacteria is essential to preventing it. However, there are certain things that could increase your risks of developing gingivitis even if you believe that you’re doing all you can to prevent it. For example, if you smoke or chew tobacco, or drink alcohol excessively, then these can lead to reactions in your oral and periodontal tissues that make you highly susceptible to gum disease. Your risks can also be impacted by not attending routine checkup and cleaning appointments, engaging in unhealthy eating habits, and more.

If you’re already showing the signs

Despite knowing the potential consequences of gum disease, many people still may not take gingivitis seriously until they develop it. If you do, then the best way to save your smile is to address your gingivitis as soon as possible with appropriate periodontal care and treatment. Some of the warning signs can include inflammation, or swelling, in your gum tissues, areas of discoloration, recession in your gums, chronic bad breath, and more. If you notice such signs, then schedule a visit with your dentist as soon as possible to diagnose and address your gingivitis as early as possible.

Learn what to do about gingivitis

If you have gingivitis, then it may be a more worrisome condition than you realize at first, and addressing it as soon as possible could be essential to saving your smile. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.