Gum disease is a very common condition, and most people with suffer from a mild amount of gum inflammation and bleeding at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, while mild gum disease (or gingivitis) is relatively easy to treat, a severe form of gum disease known as periodontitis can seriously harm your oral health.
What Is Periodontitis?
Periodontitis is a serious form of gum disease, caused by bacteria infecting the gums and soft tissue surrounding your teeth. These tissues become so damaged and inflamed that they start to peel away from the teeth. The bacteria can also start to infect the jaw bone that helps support your teeth, and may cause significant bone loss.
Periodontitis is a serious medical condition and should be treated by your dentist as soon as possible to minimize the damage. If necessary, you should visit an emergency dentist. Periodontitis can cause severe, uncontrollable blood loss, and the infection that causes it can spread to other parts of your body, potentially putting your life at risk.
Why Does Periodontitis Cause Tooth Loss?
As periodontitis causes the gum tissue to separate from teeth, pockets are created in the gaps between the teeth and the damaged gums. Left untreated, these pockets become filled with bacteria and impacted food, which can quickly cause catastrophic tooth decay. If a tooth decays badly enough, its inner pulp and nerves become vulnerable to infection, and the entire tooth may die and need to be removed.
Particularly severe periodontitis can also cause teeth to simply fall out of your mouth. As the surrounding gum tissue peels away, and the bone holding the tooth in place is lost due to infection, a tooth can quickly lose all of its structural support. This is why many people who suffer from periodontitis lose large numbers of teeth in quick succession.
Why Choose Dentures To Replace Teeth Lost To Periodontitis?
Once your dentist has treated the immediate damage caused by periodontitis, and the underlying infection has been cured, your next concern is replacing any teeth you have lost to the disease. Losing several teeth doesn't just affect your appearance — it can also make it a lot harder to eat or speak clearly, and can have a significant effect on your confidence and mental health.
Dental bridges are commonly used to replace several missing teeth, but they rely on the support of surrounding teeth. if these teeth were damaged or loosened by periodontitis, they may not be strong enough to support a bridge.
Dental implants are another option, but implants can only be installed if there is enough remaining bone and gum tissue to support the implant. Since periodontitis damages both gum and bone, you may need expensive bone and gum graft operations before implants can be installed.
Dentures are frequently the best option for replacing teeth lose to periodontitis because they can be used even if your gums and jaw bone have been badly damaged. Partial or complete dentures can be used to quickly and easily replace large numbers of missing teeth. In many cases, dentures can be crafted for you on the same day you order them, helping you get back to normal life as soon as possible.
Complete dentures are especially useful if you have suffered significant gum recession caused by periodontitis because they are fitted with a convincing, prosthetic gum line. This can effectively mask the appearance of damaged and receded 'natural' gums and will prevent your cheeks from becoming sunken and hollow, a common side effect of tooth loss and gum recession.
Dentures also have other advantages over bridges and implants. They are significantly less expensive than either option and can be fitted more quickly, even if you don't choose same-day dentures. They are also quite easy to maintain, and much cheaper and easier to replace if they become accidentally damaged.
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