Visiting your Johnstown and Greensburg, PA, periodontist, Dr. Anthony Marchionno, can help you keep your smile strong and healthy. Periodontists are dentists who treat gum disease and offer dental implants to replace missing teeth.
4 Ways Your Periodontist Can Help You Protect Your Smile
Scheduling an appointment with your periodontist in Greensburg or Johnstown, PA, can help you:
- Improve the Health of Your Gums: You may have gingivitis, the mildest form of gum disease, and not even realize that your symptoms are a cause for concern. If you have gingivitis, your gums may become red and puffy and may bleed when you brush or floss. Bleeding is never a good sign and warrants a trip to the periodontist. Luckily, it's often possible to reverse gingivitis with better oral hygiene and thorough dental cleaning.
- Treat Receding Gums: Gums can begin to recede as a result of gum disease, grinding your teeth while you sleep, brushing too hard, or poor oral hygiene. Receding gums can also be inherited. Your periodontist can recommend treatments that improve the condition of your gums, including gum grafts. Grafts involve replacing lost gum tissue from tissue taken from the roof of your mouth.
- Avoid the Serious Consequences of Gum Disease: Without treatment, gum disease can damage not only your gums but the bones and ligaments that hold your teeth in place. As the disease progresses, deep pockets filled with bacteria and debris begin to form around teeth. By this stage, you may also have a painful infection in your gums. Your periodontist can remove bacteria, tartar, and plaque above and below your gum line with a deep cleaning called planing and scaling. Flap surgery may also be needed to close the pockets.
- Restore Missing Teeth: If you've lost teeth due to gum disease, you don't have to live with gaps in your smile. Dental implants can replace your lost teeth with synthetic teeth that look and feel just like the real thing. Titanium implants are placed in your jawbone during minor oral surgery and soon begin to bond to your bone. Implants are connected to crowns, restorations that replace the top parts of teeth.
Could a visit to the periodontist improve your oral health? Call the Johnstown or Greensburg, PA, offices of your periodontist, Dr. Marchionno, at (814) 262-7000 to schedule your appointment.