tooth loss and treating gum disease

When Tooth Loss Hits, Treating Gum Disease Becomes Far More Difficult

Gum disease can rob you of your health in a number of ways. Of all these, by far the most obvious is the loss of your teeth.

Losing your teeth results in a number of new challenges. You’ll have to learn to eat differently, or use a prosthetic such as dentures or a bridge. Also, you’ll have to learn how to speak without the missing tooth or teeth.

One complication of tooth loss that many people never consider is how it affects our ability to treat their gum disease. Many of our patients never consider the difficulties that we face when the tooth is gone, and there are fewer options for treating their gum disease.

Treating Gum Disease With The Teeth Intact

If you still have your teeth, we have more options when it comes to treating your gum disease. We can engage in scaling and planing if the gum disease isn’t too far advanced. Also, we can perform gum grafts in order to help close up pockets which may have developed. In extreme cases, we can also perform bone grafts to help the jawbone recover.

Treating Gum Disease Without The Teeth

But, after you have lost one or more teeth, our options for treating your gum disease are greatly reduced. For example, we can’t really perform a gum graft to close the pocket between your gums and your teeth when there are no teeth. Likewise, a bone graft might temporarily increase bone density, but this will quite likely eventually deteriorate because there is no tooth there anymore.

If you have gum disease, it is very important for you to come see us as soon as possible. If we catch it early enough, it is highly treatable, and you don’t have to run the risk of losing your teeth. We are here to help you. Contact us today.