Two common issues people experience when trying to reverse periodontal disease

Many people with periodontal disease experience certain issues when trying to reverse it. Here are the two most common issues, along with a few tips on how to handle them.

Struggling to floss without hurting their gums

When a person's dentist diagnoses them with periodontal disease, they will usually not only provide in-clinic treatments but will also advise that the person floss far more often, in order to remove inflammatory bacterial plaque and food from between the teeth (as the presence of these things near the gums could make it harder to reverse this disease). However, a lot of people struggle to follow this advice. This is mostly due to the fact that gum disease can make a person's gums incredibly sensitive and sore, to the point where pressing dental floss string against them feels very painful. This pain can make people in this situation reluctant to follow their dentist's advice, which can then result in the progression rather than the reversal of their periodontal disease.

People who are having this issue should discard their dental floss and instead buy themselves water-picks; these electric devices are designed to use the pressure of water to loosen and push bacterial plaque and pieces of food out of the spaces between the teeth. The sensation of this water is far less uncomfortable than that of dental floss string and can be just as effective at removing the aforementioned inflammatory particles.

Not knowing whether or not they should see their dentist about their bleeding gums

Even after a person has begun to receive treatment for their periodontal disease, their gums may continue to bleed for a while until this treatment starts to take effect. Because of this, some people be confused about whether or not they should go back to their dentist if they find that their gums are still bleeding a lot a few days or weeks after they have begun to have this treatment and have revised and improved upon their approach to oral hygiene. They may worry that doing so will be a waste of their dentist's time.

As a general rule of thumb, most dentists prefer their patients who have this concern to come and see them and will certainly not scold these individuals for wasting their time. The reason for this is that, while some bleeding of the gums is normal, up to a certain point in the gum disease treatment process, continual bleeding that gets worse is likely an indication that the original treatment plan needs to be altered because the disease is progressing faster than expected. The dentist might, for example, need to clean the roots of the patient's teeth (i.e. do a root planing treatment) rather than just a thorough scale-and-polish of the crowns of their teeth. As such, it is best for people who are experiencing this issue to go to their dentist immediately.

For more information, contact a dentist.

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