Scaling and Root Planing Helps Remove Gum Disease

Scaling and root planing is a procedure that helps get rid of gum disease as well as removing calculus and infection that is below the gum line. Gum disease is a serious condition with potentially irreversible side effects that most people agree they would rather not have. While some people laugh off signs of gum disease as normal, it is not something to be taken lightly. Your dentist, dental hygienist, or a periodontist should always help you be aware of the current health of your gums and teeth.

How to Know if Your Need Scaling and Root Planing

If you are wondering whether or not your have gum disease, or whether scaling and root planing is something that you might need, you should see a dentist as soon as possible to receive a professional diagnosis. Your dental hygienist or dentist are the only ones who can tell you for sure if you need scaling and root planing.

During your dental exam, your dental hygienist will do what is called periodontal probing. This is measuring the depth of the bone in several different areas. When probing comes back higher than normal they know that the gums are either very swollen, or that bone has been lost. Both of these things are normally caused by a gum infection or gum disease. Bone loss is irreversible which is a good reason to see your dentist regularly. If you are starting to develop gum disease you will want to take care of it right away. Here are a few things to look at to signs to look for that indicate that gum disease may be present:

• Bone Loss

If you have noticed less mass around the roots of your teeth, you might be experiencing bone loss. Bone loss can be caused by a few different things, one of them being gum disease.

• Swollen Gums

Swollen gums is one of the things that we have noticed many people writing off as normal. Unless you are aggravating your gums somehow, your gums should not be swelling. This is definitely not normal! If you have noticed your gums swelling, be sure to notify your dentist and discuss a plan of action to reduce the swelling.

• Bleeding Gums

Bleeding gums are another thing that gets lumped into the “normal” category when it happens to patients. We hear things like, “oh, my teeth bleed every time I floss”. This should simply not be the case. Either you are flossing WAY too hard, or you probably have some gum disease or inflammation going on.

• Bad Breath

Bacteria and infection in your mouth can also lead to bad breath. Nobody wants to be that person that people can’t stand talking to because their breath is so bad. If you have bad breath, it could be caused by infection in your mouth. You should see your dentist as quickly as possible to come up with a plan to get that resolved.

What to Do if You Think You Have Gum Disease

The typical process of getting rid of gum disease is to have scaling and root planing done and then following up with periodontal maintenance. Once the gum disease is cleared out, good home and dental habits can keep your gums and teeth healthy.

If you have been experiencing any of the symptoms that were discussed in this article and you are located in the Idaho Falls area, give Cline Family Dentistry a call today at (208)529-0420, or click the button below!