<< General Dentistry Dental Office in Tempe AZ >>
Periodontal disease is a silent disease. In the beginning and even in the moderate stage of the disease process, a person will often feel no symptoms. Perhaps their gum will bleed when they brush. If left untreated, the periodontal disease can cause serious dental problems such as persistent abscess in the gum and tooth loss.
The periodontal disease can be a slow disease progress. However, often people will not notice it until at a much later stage. The bacteria in periodontal disease causes erosion of the bone around the teeth. Slowly over time, the teeth will become mobile and due to lack of the support from the surrounding bone, teeth may collapse and then tooth loss.
The following is the xray radiograph of a person having severe periodontal disease.
The radiograph image shows multiple teeth having black shadow around the root area. The shadow can either be persistent infection due to bacteria and this leads to bone loss. Clinically, multiple teeth have severe mobility because there is not enough bone to anchor each tooth. The teeth appears to be very long because there is recession to the bone and the gum. Some upper teeth has fallen down into the empty spaces. The prognosis of his teeth are poor and eventually he would have to have all of this teeth extracted and get full dentures.
One way to help avoid periodontal disease is to have periodic dental checkup and cleaning. Dentist will check if you have any periodontal disease and recommends periodontal treatment if needed. Periodontal treatment is an on-going process and patient needs to work with the doctor to follow the oral hygiene instructions and commit to periodic recall treatment schedules.
Written by Daniel Tee, DDS, MS
Practicing General Dentist Serving the city of Tempe, Chandler, Phoenix, Gilbert, and Mesa in Arizona.
Dental Office in Tempe AZ
