Dental Diseases

Your oral health can face many threats and challenges in your lifetime. Through routine preventative dental care, you can avoid many of these challenges. However, dental health issues still commonly develop, and the symptoms of these issues can have long-lasting consequences for your oral and overall health. For instance, common dental diseases, such as tooth decay and periodontal disease, may begin as minor concerns such as tooth sensitivity or gum recession and inflammation. Yet, when these symptoms are ignored, they can quickly mature into destructive diseases that could eventually lead to loose or lost teeth if not treated promptly. In severe cases, progressive dental diseases can also have a significant influence on your systemic health, increasing your risks of chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease.

During your regularly scheduled dental checkup and cleaning appointments, your dentist will thoroughly inspect your teeth, gums, and oral tissues for early signs of disease. If your examination reveals especially weak tooth enamel, for example, then your dentist may be able to prescribe an appropriate treatment to strengthen it before tooth decay develops. If your dentist notices redness and inflammation in your gums, then periodontal cleaning may help you prevent gum disease. If it’s too late for prevention, then your dentist can recommend an appropriate treatment plan to eliminate or control the disease and restore your compromised teeth and/or oral structures.

In severe cases of dental disease, teeth may become loose, or they may be lost or require extraction. To recover from such severe symptoms, you may require the help of an oral surgeon or other specialist to address extensive periodontal disease, internal tooth infection, or the reduced function of your bite. In addition to removing all traces of the disease (i.e., oral bacteria, diseased gum tissues, etc.), your treatment may also involve replacing teeth that are lost or can no longer function properly, preferably with lifelike dental implants.