Keeping your gums healthy

Now that you have completed the moving phase of periodontal treatment, your periodontal disease is under control. The subsequent step is maintenance dream therapy, a personalized program of care to preserve your gums healthy.

The watchword of preservation therapy is prevention. Its purpose is to protect your periodontal health. Through proper home supervision and maintenance psychiatric therapy visits, you hold an excellent chance of keeping your teeth for a lifetime.

This booklet will answer some of the most frequently asked question about looking after therapy. It complements the prized advice you receive from your periodontist and standard dentist.

What is maintenance dream therapy?

Maintenance therapy is an ongoing program designed to prevent disease in the gum tissues and bone supporting your teeth. The building blocks of this program are simple: conscientious watchfulness of your mouth at home and regular maintenance visit with your dentist and periodontist.

Why is upkeep therapy central?

As you have well-read, you are susceptible to gum disease. The main motivation of gum disease is bacterial plaque, a sticky colorless film that constantly forms on your teeth. Toxins (or poisons) produced by the microbes in plaque constantly attack your gums and teeth. If the plaque is not removed, it harden into a rough, porous deposit called calculus, or tartar.

Daily oral hygiene including brushing and flossing will save the formation of calculus to a minimum, but it won't completely prevent it. No matter how fussy you are in cleaning your teeth and gums, bacterial plaque can raison d`être a recurrence of gum disease from two to four months after your closing professional cleaning. To keep your teeth and gums well, a dental professional must check for potential hidden problems and remove the hardened plaque at a time interval appropriate for you.

Who should execute maintenance diligence?

The answer depends upon the patient and the severity of the disease prior to treatment. Generally, the more severe your initial problem, the more the periodontist requests to oversee your care. The responsibility for periodontal running will be worked out between you, your general dentist and your periodontist.

What is included in a conservation visit?

Your repairs visit may include:

* discussing any change in your form history

* examining your mouth tissues for abnormal changes

* measure the depth of pockets around the teeth

* assessing your oral hygiene habits and providing instruction

* cleaning your teeth to remove bacterial plaque and calculus

* taking required x-rays to evaluate the teeth and the bone supporting the teeth

* examining your teeth for decay and other dental problems

* checking the style your teeth fit together when you bite

* applying or prescribing medications to cut back on tooth sensitivity or other problems

How often should I own maintenance visit?

This decision is base upon your periodontal condition. The interval between maintenance visit varies between patients from every few weeks to every six months. Everyone's situation is different. The frequency of care visits will be influenced by:

*  different types of periodontal diseases
*  different types of periodontal treatment
*  different lenient response to treatment
*  different rates of plaque growth

Last, but certainly not lowest, the frequency of your maintenance visit will be influenced by your personal commitment to good oral thinking at home.

What's the relationship between my general dentist and periodontist?

Your dentist and periodontist work together as a squad to provide you with the best possible watchfulness. They combine their experience to formulate the best maintenance plan for you. They hold on to each other informed roughly your progress. The periodontist may see you periodically for maintenance psychoanalysis, but you will need to see your nonspecific dentist as well.

Periodontal running appointments are not meant to clutch the place of regular dental check-ups. For example, if your periodontist detects tooth decay during a keeping visit, he or she would refer you to your broad dentist for treatment. Your general dentist is primarily responsible for your overall dental condition, including such dental needs as untried or recurrent cavity or changes contained by fillings, crowns or bridges.

Are care visits worth the cost?

Without ask! Maintenance visits abet protect your periodontal health and prevent adjectives dental problems. By treating disease in the early stages, you store dollars - and discomfort - in the long run. Simply put, a preservation visit is a erudite investment in your dental health.

If you enjoy dental insurance, it may pay for simply one dental examination every six months. Because you are susceptible to periodontal disease, you may want to be seen more recurrently. So, you may need to cover the cost instinctively for some of your maintenance visit.

Will I be protected from unnecessary x-rays?

Your periodontist takes x-rays (or radiographs) with the sole purpose when essential for the diagnosis of your periodontal health. The x-rays are shared near your general dentist.

X-rays show aspects of your oral strength that a visual exam cannot. They aid contained by early detection of disease, an impressive part of prevention. contained by most cases, a periodontist takes a full set of x-rays every two to four years. Special cases may require more frequent x-rays.

Periodontal disease is the key cause of tooth loss contained by adults, affecting three out of four people at some point in enthusiasm. The best way to prevent periodontal disease - and hold on to your teeth for a lifetime - is to carefully follow the guidelines of your keep therapy program.

Protecting your periodontal condition brings many benefits. You can chew beside more comfort. You can smile and speak with greater confidence. You can preserve dental costs down by preventing future problems.

A commitment to running therapy is a commitment to better condition.