Gum disease affects about half of all American adults. Despite its frequency, this gum tissue infection can be incredibly destructive to your smile. This disease will require a dentist to treat the infection and restore your oral health.
Eradicating the infection may not help your smile recover from lasting damage from bacteria. However, you can consult your dentist about cosmetic treatments to help your smile look beautiful again. Read on to learn about three cosmetic problems that stem from gum disease and how your dentist can resolve them.
How Can My Dentist Enhance My Smile After Gum Disease?
Reduce Puffiness in Gums
Gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease, often manifests as inflammation in the gum tissue. You may experience swelling, soreness, and bleeding in your gums at this phase of the infection.
Not only does this feel uncomfortable, but you may feel self-conscious about the puffy appearance of your gums. Fortunately, the swelling will usually go down on its own once your dentist treats the infection.
To eradicate gum disease, your dentist will scrape away excess bacteria and plaque from your smile, especially deep in the gum pockets. This targeted cleaning method is known as scaling and root planing. They may also give you an antibacterial rinse to use to balance the bacteria in your mouth and keep the infection at bay.
Fill Gaps in Your Smile
Once the swelling goes down after your dentist treats gum disease, you may notice that your teeth have slightly shifted their position in your smile. Your teeth might now appear crooked, overlapped, or gapped. You may also have black triangles, which are partial gaps toward the crown of your teeth that disrupt the look of your smile.
More extreme misaligned teeth may need evaluation from an orthodontist. But your dentist can also use dental bonding to fill gaps in your smile and give you a fuller, more beautiful finish.
They will apply tooth-colored composite resin to your teeth and sculpt it according to your aesthetic goals. Then they cure the resin so that it hardens and stays in place. A final polish gives it a beautiful and natural look. Follow your dentist’s aftercare instructions to ensure this cosmetic dental work lasts as long as possible.
Replace Missing Teeth
As gum disease progresses, bacteria can reach the tooth root and jawbone, damaging these parts of the mouth. This can cause extensive dental damage, potentially leading to the tooth falling out of its socket. In fact, gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in American adults.
Missing teeth can severely impact your life, but you can seek tooth replacement treatment from your dentist. They can evaluate your existing dental structure and your desired results to determine the restorative solution that works best for you.
Dental implants in our New Bern office can provide the most comprehensive oral health benefits. These fixtures use surgically inserted anchors in the jaw to support prosthetic teeth for 20 years or longer.
