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PERIODONTAL DISEASE

What is Periodontal Disease?
Periodontal disease (gum disease) is an infection which effects the periodontium (the gums and bones that support the teeth). There are 2 main stages of periodontal disease that you've probably heard about from advertisements on TV commercials, dental products, or your dentist. If you leave your periodontal disease untreated, it eventually can/will get worst. Once it becomes periodontitis, that will lead to permanent damage to your gums and bone that supports you teeth; eventually you can have tooth loss.
 
Gingivitis is the first stage of periodontal disease. This is the ONLY stage the periodontal disease can be reversed. At this stage, the gums are more inflamed due to the biofilm on the calculus or the plaque. Biofilm is like natures double sided sticky tape. The biofilm attaches to surfaces on your teeth, while the bacteria attaches to the biofilm. Biofilm is not made up of only one type of bacteria, but there are millions and millions types of bacteria in the oral cavity. The bacteria that is on the biofilm releases acids and toxins which causes the irritation and harm to the gums. When you don't brush or floss, the bacteria is basically having party in your mouth at night and multiply. With this irritation occurring, our gums natural response is to become inflamed. Once the gums are inflamed they are more prone to bleeding (this is why it is so common we bleed when we first start flossing). Healthy gums do not bleed upon flossing, this is the first sign that you might have some type of periodontal disease.
 
The second stage is periodontitis; also the stage that is NOT reversible and permanent damage has been done. If the gingivitis is not treated and the disease progresses, this is where the permanent damage starts to occur. Our bodies immune response is to protect the life of the host (us) not to tooth. Since the tooth has the biofilm and bacteria on it, our body tries to get rid of the cause of the problem. The gums start to recede away from the problem area and the bones that support the teeth start to become damaged; that's when you have periodontal pockets and low bone levels. Once bone is loss it is gone and cannot be "regrown" or "remade", it's gone forever. That's why it is so important to keep our teeth clean and our gums healthy, and if you have periodontal disease - get it stabilized before it will lead to worst things down the road.

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There can be many factors that put some people at a higher risk/more susceptibility.
This can all depend on:
- smoking and tobacco use
- genetics
- stress
- medications
- other systemic diseases

- age
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