While you may think that you may be brushing your teeth and flossing them just right there are a number of indications which show that you could have gum diseases. Bad breath even after brushing your teeth, swelling around your gums, your teeth shifting further apart, small amounts of blood from your teeth and some other indications. You finally decide to go to your dentist and he tells you that you have periodontitis. Your dentist shows the size of pockets between your gums and teeth, buildup of calculus, progression of teeth and some other problems. He explains to you scaling, deep cleaning and other procedures. While you tell him that you will be back in a week or so to get the treatment done he says no. You are confused. Let us tell you why.
So what exactly is periodontitis? Dentists usually say no to cleaning your teeth when they are trying to preserve your health. Periodontitis is a chronic infection where bacteria has collected in the pockets between your gums and teeth; there is a lot of plaque etc all because of inadequate oral hygiene. These bacteria secrete acids which dissolve your bones which connect your teeth and jawbone. If this is left untreated it will definitely progress like any other disease and will finish your bones. Periodontitis is basically a symptom of your body destroying yourself in an attempt to fight of a chronic disease. While dentistry has some standard rules, coming to such a chronic disease your body would also need proper treatment and your mouth is no different. Your dentist would refuse to regular cleaning as it would not be enough. Dental cleaning or even more extreme measures have to be taken to assure that this disease is finished from the roots and does not continue to spread.
What is the difference between dental and regular cleaning? Regular cleaning generally focuses on the area above the gums, which disturbs the bacteria and makes them flow into your blood stream. Regular cleaning just help polishes your teeth while dental cleaning removes the bacteria from your teeth hence a more through process. So when your dentist says no to just cleaning your teeth understand that you have untreated periodontitis and you will first need to go with dental cleaning to remove all the bacteria which have been living in your mouth. After the treatment not only will your teeth feel better but you will also feel healthier overall.