Periodontal Disease, Scaling and Routine Dental Check up visits can help prevent this.

In this day and age, we hear the term  ‘Living though 100 years’ as a common expression. Longevity is increasing and the importance of health is becoming prominent. Among this, dental health is utmost important therefore require regular check ups.

However, whether it’s for young people or older adults, people fear visiting the dentist in general and will have anxiety, fear of discomfort and  will avoid visiting the dentist. We often notice bleeding in the gums and sometimes swelling  and will continue to ignore this condition and will delay visiting the dentist only to find that the teeth has lost its support from the bone and tissues which may be too late to ‘save ‘ the tooth if the periodontal disease has been diagnosed to an advanced level.

Periodontal disease is where the supporting alveolar bone are resorbed over time and will cause loosening of the teeth. It is a chronic condition and can be quite serious. Most of the time, the tooth has to be extracted. 

 It comes in stages where initially it will be just inflamed gum tissues (Gingivitis) .This can be easily treated through regular maintenance and with scaling of the plaque and calculus deposits surrounding the teeth. However, if the condition worsens, it is called Periodontitis. Signs and symptoms include swelling around the gum tissues, sometimes acute pain especially on biting.

 Once the condition reaches an advanced state, it will be very difficult to regenerate the tissues back to its original condition.

Therefore we place prevention as the most important tool. The seriousness is reflected in statistical findings where in average age of 40's  1 in 3 adults will have gingivitis and 17 in 100 will have bone loss due to periodontal disease.  In Singapore, age group of 20-34 (3.48%) 35-49 years (10.41%) , 50-64 years (11.88%) will have periodontal condition (NIH Craniofacial Research).

Overall, initial diagnosis is not very straightforward but with comprehensive check up and recalls, dentist can find the signs and symptoms. Just because there is no pain we should not ignore the importance of checkups and think there is no condition.

You may find the following signs.

1.     When brushing or flossing, there is some bleeding.

2.     You feel the teeth feels slightly loose and uncomfortable.

3.     The gum tissues may feel itchy.

4.     Bad breath (halitosis) and swollen gums.

These symptoms may occur when your overall health condition is not in a good or if you feel tired as well. When the immunity is low, the symptoms may worsen.

If the initial condition has become more serious, rather than regular scaling, you will require deep scaling or periodontal treatment under local anaesthesia. Dentist will be using a hand instrument to remove all the calculus and inflamed tissues.

At Meiplus dental clinic, Dr Kang suggests to receive dental scaling every 6 to 12 months with  regular checkup.

Just like a strong rooted tree will grow well, teeth will also require proper care and maintenance for its health . We hope we all can remember the significance and importance of our 28 adult teeth and should  be kept until 100 years of age. 

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