Currently, oral diseases affect almost 3.5 billion people, according to the World Health Organization, periodontitis is one of them. This multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease is characterized by the progressive destruction of the structures that support the tooth, affecting both the gums and the bone that supports the teeth. Dr. Manuel Tovar, dentist at Clinica Ricardo Palma, gives us more information on this topic.

Risk factors

The risk factors that lead to this disease are:

• Gingivitis
• Inadequate oral health habits
• Smoking or chewing tobacco
• Hormonal changes, such as those related to pregnancy or menopause
• Obesity
• Improper nutrition; including vitamin C deficiency
• Genetics
• Medicines that cause dry mouth or gum changes
• Conditions that cause a decrease in the immune system
• Diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, among others

Symptoms

Periodontitis can include the following symptoms:

• Bleeding gums
• Dark red or purple gums
• Gums swollen and tender to the touch
• Visible separation between the gum and the tooth
• Mobility in teeth
• Pain when chewing
• Gingival retraction, where the gum moves away from the tooth resulting in longer teeth
• Bad breath

Prevention

The following recommendations should be taken into account to avoid this disease:

• Regular visits to the dentist (twice a year)
• Brushing teeth three times a day
• Use of dental floss and interproximal brushes, if necessary
• Using mouthwash after brushing
• Healthy diet

Treatment

There are four fundamental pillars for treatment

1. Systemic phase: The patient must be properly controlled at a general level to achieve a favorable prognosis
2. Periodontal phase: It consists of 4 steps:

• • Oral physical therapy
  • Elimination of factors that retain plaque
  • Scraping and smoothing the roots of the teeth
  • Re-evaluation

3. Complementary phase: Phase to achieve control of periodontitis. It can be non-surgical or surgical
4. Maintenance phase: final phase that the patient should reach

Dr. Manuel Tovar
Dentist at Clínica Ricardo Palma