Gum Disease Dentist Brownsville, TX
A Healthy Smile for a Healthy Body
The Primary Cause of
Lost Teeth
Many people assume that tooth loss is due to decay. It’s not. It’s because of gum disease. And it can be completely unnoticeable right up until you lose your teeth. Symptoms include bleeding gums when you brush or floss and loose or shifting teeth. If you’ve been told you need gum surgery, you will be glad to know that our gum disease dentists in Brownsville, TX can control periodontal disease with a variety of non-surgical methods.
Gum Disease Can
Contribute to Heart
Disease and Even Stroke
Recent medical research has caused many doctors to reach a startling conclusion: gum disease, stroke, and heart disease are linked. Since heart disease is usually fatal, it is clear that gum disease is a serious matter. The American Dental Association estimates that 8 out of 10 Americans have periodontal (gum) disease. If this were any other affliction, such as AIDS or tuberculosis, it would be considered an epidemic! Most periodontists think it is just that. They also knew that gum disease would never be labeled epidemic because “no one ever dies from it.” The worst is that you lose your teeth. Not pleasant – but certainly not life threatening. But that’s all changed.
The American Academy of Periodontology reports: “Studies found periodontal infection may contribute to the development of heart disease, increase the risk of premature, underweight births, and pose a serious threat to people whose health is already compromised due to diabetes and respiratory diseases.” Periodontal disease is characterized by bacterial infection of the gums. These bacteria can travel into the bloodstream – straight to the heart.
Now the
Good News
With advanced periodontal disease, the treatment is surgical. Gum surgery is never fun, but it is almost always successful in controlling the condition, and it’s usually covered by common insurance plans. With mild periodontal disease, there are very effective NON-surgical procedures that, coupled with improved dental hygiene, can virtually halt the spread of the disease. This, too, is usually covered under most dental insurance plans.
What’s So Bad About
Losing a Tooth?
Losing even a single tooth can cause the other teeth to shift and move around – not good. This can affect chewing and your ability to absorb nutrients from your food. Other bad things can happen; your face will change shape, often looking “sunken.” This can make you look much older than you really are. Your speech can be affected. Because it’s harder to chew with missing teeth, you may find yourself favoring softer foods and more carbohydrates, which can cause you to gain weight. The best way to treat a missing tooth (or missing teeth) is with dental implants. An implant can replace one tooth or many. They can be made to look so natural that even a dentist has to look hard to tell the difference.
The Cleanest Your
Teeth Can Be
We use a Piezo Scaler™ to aid in removing deposits of plaque and calculus (tartar) from your teeth, especially under the gumline and even in deep pockets, in the case of gum disease treatments. This hand tool uses high-frequency vibrations to enable us to remove deposits on your teeth faster than with regular scaling instruments. Your teeth have never felt so clean! As a bonus, most patients report less discomfort with the Piezo Scaler.
Introducing Laser
Dental Procedures
Dental lasers are FDA-approved and provide an exciting new way to ease discomfort during dental procedures. Treatments that were previously performed with scalpels or incisions can now be completed with a laser. Less-invasive treatment means improved results and faster healing. We are able to cosmetically treat uneven gummy smile lines, clean and re-contour inflamed tissue around crowns, arrest gum disease, and heal painful canker sores and mouth ulcers with instant relief! The results are absolutely outstanding!