Between healthier gums and a gorgeous grin, many people would choose the latter. It’s only natural – smile flaws can seem worse in the moment than inflamed oral tissues. Even so, you should actually get gum disease treatment before cosmetic dentistry. Addressing your ailing gums will help later aesthetic work, ensuring the latter improves your smile. If you want to learn more, consider this summary of the matter from your local Kingwood dentist.
Consider What Gum Disease Is
You’ll first need a basic (but still accurate) definition of gum disease. Otherwise, you won’t understand why treating it should come before aesthetic dental work.
Gum disease is an infection of your gums – the soft, pink tissues around your teeth. A common ailment, it stems from excessive plaque caused by poor eating and bad oral hygiene. This buildup initially causes gum disease’s first phase, a mild gum inflammation called gingivitis. Such inflammation can then develop into periodontitis – the second and more severe phase.
While it may seem harmless at first, gum disease is a major threat to oral health. The condition causes gum recession, jaw shrinkage, and tooth loss when left untreated. Such effects can only be fixed by invasive (and expensive) dental work.
Gum Disease Can Ruin Cosmetic Work
Your health matters more than your looks, but there’s another reason to treat gum disease before you treat smile flaws. It turns out infected gums can ruin cosmetic work (and vice versa).
You see, the effects of gum disease can “undo” cosmetic dental procedures. Receding gums tend to highlight that veneers are artificial, to give one example. Another would be that tooth loss makes any prior teeth whitening, dental bonding, and so on pointless.
Adding insult to injury, some cosmetic treatments also worsen gum disease. By hiding the signs of infection, they keep a dentist from detecting your issue until complications arise.
Dentists Can Treat Your Gum Disease
The good news is that dentists have several ways to treat gum disease. Based on your infection’s severity, you could undergo the one most suited to you.
The most traditional option is scaling and root planing, a “deep cleaning” of your gums. This procedure starts with scaling – a process that removes built-up plaque and tartar from below the gumline. It then shifts into root planing, which smooths the roots of your teeth. The overall treatment can reverse or manage gum disease once both phases are done.
To really enjoy a beautiful smile later, get gum disease treatment before cosmetic dentistry. Your smile will be both healthier and prettier that way!
About the Practice
Kingwood Family Dentistry is based in Kingwood, TX. Led by Drs. Mosby and Caldwell, our practice helps local families protect their oral health and overall well-being. We thus offer a wide range of dental treatments, all while identifying oral signs of systemic bodily issues. Gum disease therapy and cosmetic dental work are naturally among those procedures! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (281)-359-6672.