Periodontal disease

Periodontal disease, which is also known as "gum disease“ or Pyorrhea, leaves the tooth itself intact and destroys the tissues which support the tooth in the underlying bone. It is caused by poor oral hygiene and the consequent accumulation of plaque at the gum margin. lt is one of the common causes of bad breath. The disease may commence as a gingivitis when plaque at the gum margin causes a swelling of the gum, the gum boil, due to bacterial action on the gums, and causes bleeding gums. This is an important and easily recognizable sign of periodontal disease at any age. There may be blood on the toothbrush or in the saliva after brushing. It is a good practice to occasionally check for bleeding gums before a mirror immediately after brushing small segments of the gum –say across 6 teeth. 

At the gingivitis stage, the disease is reversible provided proper attention is given to oral hygiene. If this is not done and the condition is allowed to persist for months and years, the fibrous attachment, which anchors the tooth to the bone, is frequently destroyed gradually. This may go on slowly for many years until finally the teeth become shaky and are lost. Things are probably made worse by the presence, under the gum, of hard deposits of calculus (tartar). Calculus or tartar refers to the plaque that has got calcified over a period of time due to its improper removal, No plaque means no tartar; so tartar or calculus implies poor oral hygiene. Plaque can be removed efficiently by tooth brushing, while the calculus can only be removed mechanically by a dental surgeon using a procedure called scaling. On the other hand scaling will hardly be necessary for people who clean their teeth properly. Furthermore it is quite wrong to regard the loss of teeth with advancing age -a familiar occurrence - as normal. On the contrary it is due to a disease, which can be, and ought to be, prevented and controlled.

Prevention of periodontal disease

The prevention of the disease is based on sound personal oral hygiene throughout life, in other words, there must be daily mechanical removal of plaque using a toothbrush or chewing stick. It is recommended to brush the teeth at the morning and at the evening after the meals. The overall objective is to maintain a good oral hygiene so that the progress of the disease, if at all, will be slow enough for the teeth to last a lifetime despite some loss of bone support. As an aid to oral hygiene, plaque disclosing agents or some dyes can be used to stain and show up the plaque. They do not in themselves remove the plaque. Furthermore the use of dental floss and interdental cleaning aids will help remove plaque from sites which the brush may not reach easily. Advice may be obtained from a dentist about the use of such aids. Deposits of calculus resulting from past neglect of oral hygiene will harbor plaque and make cleaning of the teeth more difficult.