Gingivitis is a rather nasty inflammatory condition (which is bacterial in nature) that attacks your gums. Your gums will be visibly inflamed, tender and will bleed quite easily, generally after brushing and flossing. The condition can rapidly escalate, leading to severe periodontal disease, which poses a considerable risk to your teeth and their supporting structures. Untreated periodontal disease often ends in the loss of a tooth (or teeth). Fortunately, gingivitis is easy enough to manage, although serious cases will need more intensive management.
Bacterial Colonisation of Your Teeth
Gingivitis is induced by bacteria that colonise your teeth and forms plaque. This can generally be kept at bay with a high standard of oral hygiene, but plaque accumulation remains a common problem. This plaque can calcify and form tartar, by which point your gums have become inflamed, and you'll need help from your dentist, as your toothbrush cannot remove tartar. A professional dental cleaning (including scaling of your teeth) will remove this tartar, and the irritation to your gums should subside. However, intensive gingivitis and other forms of periodontal disease may have led to damage to your gingival tissues.
Your Gums' Ability to Regenerate
Your gums have remarkable regenerative abilities, but for some patients, the aftereffects of gum disease can lead to damaged gingival tissues. In some cases, these tissues need assistance to regenerate, and this can involve a gingivectomy, which is the surgical removal of these damaged tissues. The affected tissues may be unlikely to heal, so it's in your best interests to have them removed. A dentist can easily perform a manual gingivectomy, but some dental clinics actually perform this procedure with a laser.
Laser Removal of Damaged Gingival Tissues
The dental laser targets damaged gingival tissues and quite simply obliterates them. Remember that only a tiny amount of tissue will actually be removed. Dental lasers do the job with extreme efficiency, with the heat of the laser offering a sterile tool that also cauterises the tissues, allowing for faster healing. It's not uncomfortable for the patient, but there will be some noticeable gum sensitivity in the coming days (which should subside as your tissues heal).
Of course, it's hardly ideal to have gum disease that requires the removal of damaged gingival tissues, but a gingivectomy is a straightforward enough solution to the problem. Moving forward, the onus is on you to maintain the highest possible level of dental hygiene while attending your regular dental checkups to have any tartar scaled from your teeth.
For information, contact a local dentist.
Share8 March 2022
I have worked as a school nurse for decades. Children come to me with all sorts of scrapes and bumps and bruises. Black eyes from playing football, sprained wrists from falling off the monkey bars and stomachaches from too many sweets are common complaints. However, the issue that seems to cause the greatest angst is tooth problems. Sometimes a child will have a second tooth knocked out when playing sport and parents arrive in tears. At other times, children come to my office crying because their friends are teasing them about teeth that are discoloured or stick out. I take an active interest in the latest dental news so that I can give parents and children comfort and advice. I have included some of my collected wisdom on these pages. Perhaps this information can help you understand some options when faced with a dental problem. Thank you for reading.