Gum disease is the swelling, soreness or infection of the pink tissues supporting the teeth. There are two main types of gum disease: ‘gingivitis’ and ‘periodontal disease’.

Gingivitis means inflammation of the gums. This is when the gums around the teeth become very red and swollen. Often the swollen gums bleed when you brush them. If this is left untreated, this can develop to the more serious periodontitis, which can destroy the bone and result in loss of the tooth.

Periodontal disease is never cured, it can only be stabilised slowing the destruction process down. The home care regime we will teach you, needs to be followed on a daily basis in combination with regular maintenance therapy to ensure stability of your disease.

Both diseases are treated with cleaning, either by hand or using ultrasonic instruments. If your disease is advanced, then deep cleaning under local anaesthetic will be required over several visits, and sometimes gum surgery is required to remove deeper pockets or regenerate bone with synthetic materials.

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