Gum Health

Gingivitis, periodontitis, and the treatment that stops gum disease progressing.

Written by the Shield Dental Care team, Burke VA

Gum disease is the most common dental problem that patients do not know they have. It is usually painless until it is advanced, and it is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults — teeth are lost from the bone supporting them, not from the teeth themselves failing.

It is also common. According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, 42.2% of adults over 30 in the United States have some form of periodontitis.

Gingivitis and periodontitis are not the same thing

The distinction matters more than any other on this page, because one is reversible and the other is not.

Gingivitis is inflammation of the gum tissue. Gums are red, puffy, and bleed when you brush or floss. No permanent damage has been done yet, and it usually resolves completely with a professional cleaning and consistent home care.

Periodontitis is what gingivitis becomes if it is left. The inflammation reaches the bone supporting the teeth, and that bone does not grow back. Treatment at this stage stops the loss and stabilises what is there — it does not restore what has gone. That is why "can gum disease be reversed?" has two answers depending on which stage you are asking about.

What treatment involves

A regular cleaning treats a healthy mouth: plaque and tartar removed from the tooth surfaces at and just below the gum line. Scaling and root planing is a deeper treatment for gums that have already detached, cleaning the root surfaces inside the pockets that have formed and smoothing them so the tissue can reattach. It is usually done over two appointments, one side of the mouth at a time, with the area numbed.

Gingivitis is often a single visit. After scaling and root planing, maintenance cleanings move to every three to four months rather than six — the shorter interval is the treatment continuing, not an upsell.

Most dental insurance plans cover periodontal treatment including scaling and root planing, and our front desk verifies coverage before treatment starts.

The rest of your body

The link between gum disease and general health is real, and it is more established for some conditions than others. Two are worth stating precisely:

  • Diabetes. This one runs both ways, and the evidence for treatment helping is strong. A 2022 Cochrane review of 30 trials found treating periodontitis reduced HbA1c by an average of 0.43% at three to four months in people who have both conditions — a clinically significant amount.
  • Cardiovascular disease. The long-term PAROKRANK follow-up found more cardiovascular events among people with periodontal disease. Whether the relationship is causal is still being studied, and it is worth being honest that association is not the same as cause.

What raises your risk

Smoking is the single largest modifiable risk factor, and it also masks the warning sign — smokers' gums bleed less, so the disease progresses more quietly. Uncontrolled diabetes, certain medications, hormonal changes including pregnancy, and inherited susceptibility all play a part. So does simply not cleaning between the teeth, because that is where it starts.

The signs worth acting on

Bleeding when you brush or floss is the earliest and the most ignored. Add to it: gums that look redder or more swollen than usual, persistent bad breath or a bad taste, gums that appear to be receding, teeth that feel loose or have shifted, or a change in how your teeth meet. Any of these is a reason to be seen — at the gingivitis stage the problem is fully reversible, and that window is the one worth catching.

Treatments at Shield Dental Care

What we do for this, and what each appointment involves.

Articles

10 articles from the Shield Dental Care team, all reviewed by Dr. Pejman Ghorbani, DDS.

Not sure which one you need?

Call the practice and describe what is going on. Shield Dental Care welcomes new patients across Burke, Fairfax and Springfield.

Call (703) 250-5072 Request an appointment