You go to the dentist and the dentist said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed. And you have the first signs of periodontitis. Have a nice day!" Your mouth is fully open in surprise now and lack of recognition of the term used is not helpful. It must be some disease, but what happens with it and how do you treat it?



However this time you hear a new word from your dentist that is periodontitis. What was that again? You know cavity and gingivitis as familiar words and problems but this is new. Hopefully it is not really bad, right doc?

Periodontitis is a serious degeneration of the tissues, bones and ligaments in the gums and jaw. It does serious harm to all of these areas and causes considerable pain. It usually causes permanent damage to the entire mouth area requiring fairly drastic procedures if not treated early.

The disease of periodontitis attacks the bones that support the teeth in addition to the gums surrounding and protecting the teeth. The tooth and the jawbone are basically disconnected in a permanent fashion by tissue and bone decay. Consequently, you may lose several or all of your teeth permanently and fairly quickly.

Periodontitis is basically bacteria based disease you discover and can be treated by killing the bacteria and helping the tissues to heal. How do you kill bacteria that have formed a pocket home between your tooth and gum? There are several theories on that you note from basic antiseptics to advanced bacteria fighting tools.

Once the tooth and gum are detached or weakened by periodontitis, the disease starts to work on the main larger ligament holding the tooth to the jawbone. The jawbone itself is not immune to this disease and will be attacked soon. The final blows from the disease often result in the tooth just falling out.

A fairly mainstream method to deal with periodontitis is called scaling. It also has a companion cleaning technique named root planing. These are fairly invasive techniques where the dentist actually inserts probes and instruments between your tooth and gum to effectively remove any bacteria or gunk stored there. It is more effective at cleaning than just the water stream, but not as easy on the patient.

You really think you have it with this last supposed cure for periodontitis. The main difficulty is getting the bacteria fighting solutions into the pocket homes of the disease. This is the same difficulty you faced in brushing and flossing to begin with. Next you try a relatively new device that places a mouthpiece over your teeth and the inside is covered with bacteria fighting goo. As you wear the device, the goo seeps quietly into the pockets and kills the bacteria. This final tool really works well so your teeth are safe for now. But you vow to brush and floss all the time now.