Along with attending preventive dental visits at least twice a year, successfully preventing oral and periodontal diseases requires heavily on your own daily efforts at home. If your hygiene routine is lacking, then even the best oral health care may not be able to help you preserve your smile or avoid the need for extensive treatment. Today, we explain why good hygiene matters so much to the long-term health and integrity of your smile, and how it forms the basis for habits that will increase your chances of avoiding oral health troubles. (more…)
The Details of Periodontal Scaling and Root Planing
Deep cleaning, or scaling and root planing, is similar to regular dental cleaning. Both involve removing harmful oral bacteria from your teeth and/or oral tissues, and both are necessary to preventing extensive oral or periodontal disease. The difference is that everyone requires routine dental cleanings, typically at least twice a year, even when their teeth and gums are healthy. However, your Encinitas/San Diego periodontist will only recommend scaling and root planing if you’re at an increased risk of gum disease, or if gingivitis (early gum disease) has already developed. (more…)
Who’s Most at Risk for Periodontal Disease?
The thing about periodontal disease, or gum disease, is that it can affect nearly anyone at certain points in their lives. The disease, which affects over 70% of adults in the United States, develops from an excess of harmful oral bacteria, which reside in everyone’s mouth. This means the building blocks of periodontal disease are already there, so to prevent it, you have to actively prevent those bacteria from infecting your gums. Today, we help make that easier by taking a look at what could make you more at-risk for periodontal disease, and how you can avoid them. (more…)
Why Healthy Teeth Need Healthy Gums
Most people recognize the main tenets of keeping their teeth healthy. For instance, preventing issues like tooth decay and tooth loss requires keeping harmful oral bacteria bay. That requires brushing your teeth at least twice a day, flossing at least once a day, and attending dental checkups and cleanings as often as the dentist recommends. However, not everyone recognizes the importance of healthy gums to the health and integrity of their teeth and the rest of their smiles. Today, we examine why patients in Encinitas/San Diego need healthy gums to maintain their natural smiles for life, and what they can do if their periodontal health is threatened by gum disease. (more…)
How to Know if You’re a Good Candidate for Dental Implants
Because of the innovative way in which the reestablish the support and vital functions of your lost teeth roots, dental implants are often the preferred method of rebuilding your smile. Their ability to effectively mimic healthy, natural teeth also makes them the ideal option for a wide number of patients who’ve suffered tooth loss. However, before recommending a dental implant placement procedure, Dr. Kania will first ensure that you’re a good candidate for it by performing a thorough examination at our Encinitas/San Diego, CA, office. If not, then she’ll work with you to improve your oral and periodontal health to prepare you for the lifelike tooth replacements. (more…)
What’s Different About LANAP Periodontal Treatment?
Preventing, treating, and managing periodontal disease are highly personalized procedures. Some patients may be more susceptible to the disease due to certain risk factors, in which case prevention may require more focused care on their periodontal health. Patients who do exhibit the disease do so to different degrees of severity. Treating the disease and stopping it from growing worse will depend on the extent to which it has already been allowed to develop. For many patients, managing periodontal disease is simpler, more comfortable, and more effective with the help of laser-assisted treatment, or LANAP, which involves the use of a specially calibrated soft-tissue laser to promote more holistic treatment and healing of your gums. (more…)
How Do Platelets Boost Your Periodontal Health?
Your body’s ability to heal plays a significant role in your long-term periodontal health. For instance, periodontal disease becomes a threat by affecting your immune system’s ability to remove harmful microbes, making it impossible for your periodontal tissues to heal. That’s why periodontal treatment often focuses on making your body’s healing processes more effective, such as removing bacteria and promoting the growth and reattachment of your periodontal tissues. It can also include more advanced platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which involves the introduction of highly concentrated platelets into compromised regions of your gums and periodontal ligaments. (more…)
Can Ozone Treatment Really Fight Gum Disease?
Fighting periodontal (gum) disease isn’t just about attacking the harmful oral bacteria that cause it. It’s also about preserving and protecting the healthy periodontal tissue that has not yet been affected by the disease. For optimal results, Dr. Kania often employs a variety of minimally invasive and holistic periodontal treatment, including ozone therapy for better periodontal health. Because the treatment targets oral bacteria with nothing more than oxygen, it can simultaneously fight your periodontal disease and save the tissue that is still healthy. (more…)
The Systemic Worries of Chronic Periodontal Disease
There are many reasons to worry about periodontal disease. For instance, it can cause permanent damage to your gums and the ligaments that hold your teeth in place, making it the leading cause of adult tooth loss. However, how it affects your oral health isn’t the only significant consequence of severe periodontal disease. For many patients, its presence and the prolonged inflammation associated with it can also have a substantial impact on their systemic wellbeing. Today, we examine the systemic worries of chronic periodontal disease, and how managing the condition can improve your chances of avoiding other health issues. (more…)
What Does Periodontal Maintenance Actually Mean?
Despite the fact that periodontal disease is highly preventable, it still affects a large majority of adults of all ages. That’s largely because the disease doesn’t go away and typically cannot be cured once it develops. Fortunately, it’s most damaging effects (including tooth loss) can still be successfully prevented with a customized schedule of expert periodontal maintenance. Even if you have periodontal disease, you can stop it from growing worse by routinely cleaning and maintaining your healthy periodontal tissues. (more…)