It's all connected - Dr. Shelly discusses how your oral health affects your body
Oral and Overall Health are Linked
Did you know your oral health is directly connected to your overall health? If your mouth has untreated infection, such as gum disease in Aiken, SC, bacteria can spread through your bloodstream and throughout your body. This chronic inflammation can exacerbate other diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke and has also been connected to low birth weight babies as well. As the leading cause of tooth loss in America, gum disease can also lead to irreversible damage to gum tissue and your jawbone. How can you prevent gum disease from spreading? Visit us regularly so we can catch warning signs before they turn into long-term symptoms. If you’re already experiencing common symptoms or you’ve been diagnosed with gum disease, we can help you fight this progressive disease and restore your mouth to optimal health with customized, strategic, and effective gum disease treatment here at our Aiken, SC location of Bela Family Dentistry.
Gum Disease Warning Signs
- Tender or swollen gums
- Bleeding gums while brushing
- Bad breath that won’t go away
- Periodontal pockets around teeth
- Receding gums
- Loose teeth
- Change in bite
Dr. Ferguson discusses diagnosing and treating gum disease
Custom Treatment for Lasting Results
The long-term effects of untreated gum disease are serious. Gum recession can lead to loosening teeth and malocclusion, or a misaligned bite. Infection can reach the jawbone causing the bone to degrade and recede which can then lead to tooth loss. These soft and hard tissues are essential to maintaining your oral health and maintaining complete function. At Bela Family Dentistry, we do everything we can to restore your complete oral health, that’s why we provide a variety of effective treatments tailored to the stage of gum disease you’re experiencing. We offer non-surgical gum disease therapy that removes bacteria through thorough cleanings, the application of antibiotics, and precise dental scaling. Our ultrasonic scalers vibrate at a very high speed to more efficiently clean the teeth below the gum line. This is often all patients need to restore their oral health. For more advanced stages of gum disease in Aiken, SC, treatment plans will include osseous surgery to remove damaged tissues as well as clean bacteria deep beneath the periodontal pockets and teeth. We know this can be an uncomfortable and confusing condition, that’s why we want to make treatment as easy as possible. Come in to receive a thorough assessment and a treatment plan customized to your unique needs.