Cosmetic Reasons for Treating Gum Disease

Quick Summary

Treating gum disease can improve your smile’s appearance by addressing issues like red, swollen gums, receding gumlines, and tooth mobility that progress through five distinct stages based on pocket depth and bone loss. Early treatment can prevent visible changes to your gums and teeth that affect how your smile looks. Periodontal therapy may restore gum health and protect the cosmetic appearance of your teeth and gumline.

Key Takeaways

• You should ask your dentist or periodontist to measure your pocket depths to determine which of the five stages of gum disease you may have.
• You can prevent visible gum recession and tooth changes by seeking treatment early, before bone loss becomes advanced.
• You should discuss with your periodontist which cosmetic improvements are possible after your gum disease is treated and stabilized.
• You may notice cosmetic benefits like healthier-looking gums and improved gumline appearance once inflammation is controlled through periodontal therapy.

It’s common knowledge that periodontal diseases can be detrimental to your health. But what are the cosmetic implications of leaving gum disease untreated? First of all, most health conditions are not aesthetically pleasing, and gum disease is no exception. If you want to learn more about protecting both the health and appearance of your smile, don’t hesitate to contact board-certified periodontists Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky for a consultation.

Cosmetic Consequences of Gum Disease

Gum disease is the main cause of adult tooth loss. Tooth loss is harmful to both your bite and your smile. Teeth start to shift positions around a lost tooth. It takes time to notice the shifting, but it all happens rather rapidly. Missing teeth can inhibit your desire to smile. The cheeks and lips can appear sunken, and speech can change. A permanent tooth that is loose feels much like a loose baby tooth. However as an adult, this is supposed to be your set of permanent teeth!

Treating gum disease early is essential to strengthening the gums’ bonds with your teeth and saving your smile. Gum recession is also caused by gum disease. The recession forms pockets between teeth and gums. Bacteria gather and grow here, a fact that results in unattractive and painful inflamed gums. Left untreated, gum disease can chew away at the inner gum tissue and jawbone. Bad breath or halitosis accompanies gum disease and gingivitis, making it embarrassing to open your mouth near people. Advanced periodontal disease is a common cause of severe halitosis!

When it comes to gum disease, what you don’t know can indeed hurt you. The beginning stages of periodontal disease are not always painful, and the aesthetic changes will be gradual and not always noticeable in the beginning. It’s important to realize that any cosmetic change in teeth should be evaluated even if it doesn’t cause any pain yet. While 2 in 10 Americans believe they have some form of gingivitis, periodontal or gum disease, the truth is that over 75% of adults over the age of 35 have at least one of these diseases.

Treatments to Improve Gum Disease

Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky offer a number of procedures both to treat gum disease and improve the appearance of your smile. Gum lifts or grafts are cosmetic periodontal procedures performed to restore symmetry to a gum line that was damaged by receding gums. The recession could result in teeth looking unnatural and overly long. Gum grafts are also often used to re-contour the gum line and give your smile a more pleasant appearance. Ridge modification procedures are performed in order to treat deformities in the jawbone, which have occurred due to periodontal or gum disease.

Contact Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky

The Center for Advanced Periodontal & Implant Therapy is a periodontal office in Brentwood that provides excellent care to restore patients’ oral health and aesthetics. Contact us to schedule a gum and jawbone consultation with the only two board-certified periodontists in the Brentwood area, Dr. Alexandre Aalam and Dr. Alina Krivitsky. Both highly skilled periodontists specialize in oral hygiene and restoring gums and the jawbone. These as well as other procedures offered help to preserve not only a healthy smile, but a beautiful one too.

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