Hello, I'm Dr. Perry from Farmington Family Dental. I get a lot of questions on gingivitis, so today I'm here to answer some of the most commonly asked questions on gingivitis so you have a better understanding of what gingivitis is.
What is gingivitis? Is it different from periodontitis?
Okay, so sometimes people ask me about gingivitis versus periodontitis. What is the difference? What are they? Let me explain first what gingivitis is. Gingiva means the gums; the gums, that's the fleshy stuff around your tooth. Itis means inflammation, so whenever the gums are red, puffy, irritated looking, that's gingivitis. Now, periodontitis brings in another aspect of that. You'll see the red puffy gums, but you'll also see bone loss in and around the tooth. Pero or parodontitis, that first part, pero means around, dontis is the tooth. So periodontal disease or periodontitis means infection around the tooth or inflammation around the tooth, and it's actually localized in the bone around the tooth.
What are the first symptoms of gingivitis?
The first symptoms of gingivitis that people notice are bleeding gums. Those gums can bleed when you brush them, when you floss them, when you look at them, when you eat, like a lot of different things can make it bleed, but they're just ready to bleed at anything. Um, when you see that, a lot of people will say, "Hey, I don't want to brush that, that's bad." No, actually you need to do it more. You need to brush more, you need to floss more when you're seeing things like that.
How dangerous is gingivitis?
Gingivitis is dangerous because it leads to periodontitis, to periodontal disease. It's good to stop it there at that stage; it's totally reversible, by the way. It's like having a cut in your hand, not a big deal. It just needs to heal up. You need to put in the proper care to heal it, and as long as that happens in a timely manner, we don't see the complications from it where we lose bone and it turns into periodontal disease.
Can you have gingivitis and periodontitis at the same time?
Yes, but I don't want to say that well, because gingivitis leads to periodontitis, like yeah, but because of how we grade it, we'll say different areas of the mouth. You can have gingivitis in most of it but then periodontal disease localized around one spot, so like which is it? Okay, I can get into it. Yes, but here's the kicker. So gingivitis turns into periodontal disease when you lose bone in around a tooth. Sometimes periodontal disease is localized, as in it's just certain areas of the mouth. Same thing with gingivitis. Sometimes it's localized, it's just certain areas of the mouth. For example, it's possible to have gingivitis on the bottom teeth. Just in general, those gums are red, swollen, inflamed, ready to bleed, and on the top, we have red, swollen, inflamed, ready to bleed, but we also have bone loss. That's when the top might be parodontitis, periodontal disease, and the bottom gingivitis. It's possible to have both at the same time. Practically speaking, in most mouths, they tend to be fairly consistent in that when you have gingivitis, it's just the gingivitis, and when you have periodontal disease, it's usually all the way around.
How do dentists treat gingivitis?
Okay, so how do you treat gingivitis? The best way to treat it is to come in regularly for your dental cleanings. We treat it as dentists sometimes by increasing your frequency from the regular six-month recall frequency. We'll bring you sometimes back at 4 months or 3 months, whatever it takes to get your gums healthy and your teeth healthy. Other times, we'll use antibiotic mouth rinses or other tools that are used to clean in and around the teeth and teach you and show you how to use them to get it treated and treated well. That's what we do on our side. On your side is where most of the magic happens, and that's just following the instructions you were given when you came to see us.
What are those instructions usually entail?
Those instructions usually entail how to brush, what type of toothbrush to use, what other cleaning instruments. Sometimes people use like water picks, or the Christmas tree brushes, or floss threaders, different tools like that that are used in and around different dental solutions just to get it clean. And because every mouth is different, every recommendation like that is going to be individual and unique and be given by the hygienist to you when you come in for your cleaning.
How long does it take to cure gingivitis?
Oh, the good news on gingivitis, it doesn't take very long to cure. Typically, what I see is anywhere from about 3 days or so is fairly typical. If you take somebody who has gingivitis and you change the home care, you get them a good cleaning and you get the cause fixed, the gums will heal very, very quickly. Usually, about three days is all it takes.
When should I schedule a dental appointment if I suspect I may have gingivitis?
Gosh, if you've got gingivitis, when should you schedule? How about right now? Give us a call, get that scheduled, come in, have your cleaning done, and in most cases, that's treated before the end of the week.
Okay, I hope I've been able to answer some of your questions on gingivitis. But if you have additional questions, or if you're ready to take action, give us a call at (573) 637-4404. We're ready to help.