If you’ve been told you have periodontal disease, or suspect you have it, you need to see a periodontist like San Diego’s Dr. Beck-Mayo as soon as possible. The simple truth is that untreated periodontal disease can have significant consequences for your oral health and your overall systemic well-being. Here are 5 consequences of not treating periodontal disease.
- Gum Recession
Since periodontal disease is a disease of the bone and gum around the teeth, it can significantly impact them. In fact, if you don’t see a periodontist to treat your condition, you may experience severe gum recession that may severely impact the appearance of your smile. As periodontal disease remains untreated, it will continue to erode the bone around your teeth, allowing them to move and shift positions, sometimes resulting in an unsightly ‘snaggletooth’.
- Chronic Bad Breath
Nobody wants bad breath. That’s part of the reason why San Diego residents brush their teeth daily, floss, waterpik, use mouthwash, chew gum, and consume breath mints. But if you have periodontal disease, and don’t see a periodontist for proper diagnosis and treatment, you can develop chronic bad breath that just won’t go away – no matter what you do on your own. This smelly situation is caused by a build up of bacteria under the gum, that can lead to a pus-filled abscess! A board-certified periodontist like Dr. Beck-Mayo can treat these conditions, giving you the confidence to smile big and have intimate conversations without the fear and embarrassment of bad breath.
- Developing Spaces Between Your Teeth
Some patients who have advanced periodontal disease start to notice that their teeth become loose and begin to move, leaving spaces between them. This is due to the erosion and infection of the bone and gum around the teeth. Don’t let periodontal disease destroy your beautiful smile. See a periodontist for treatment today.
- Bone Loss
Periodontal disease can cause problems more serious than just pocketing and gum loss. It can actually cause bone around your teeth to breakdown. If you begin losing bone, you’ll require a periodontal regenerative surgical procedure from a San Diego periodontist called a bone graft to help “regrow” the damaged bone around your teeth. But of course, you may be able to prevent this condition from developing by seeking early treatment.
- Losing Permanent Teeth
Nobody wants to lose a permanent tooth, but if left untreated, periodontal disease can cause so much damage to the bone around teeth that it is not fixable and the tooth requires removal. With advanced bone loss, teeth become so loose they become uncomfortable to chew with, and become non-functional to the point that periodontist Dr. Beck-Mayo needs to remove them. To avoid this situation, seek out Dr. Beck-Mayo’s help at the first sign that you have periodontal disease. She can identify the early signs of bone loss and treat it before it becomes so severe that it requires removal.
Seeking Treatment from Our Practice
At Southern California Periodontics & Implantology, we want to make sure you have the best oral health, overall health, and best quality of life possible. That’s why Dr. Beck-Mayo performs such thorough evaluations of her San Diego patients to ensure she is properly identifying and diagnosing the earliest stages of periodontal disease, and providing and effect treatment plan for their unique case.
If you’ve been told you have periodontal disease or suspect you have it, all hope is not lost. Dr. Beck-Mayo can help prevent these 5 consequences of leaving periodontal disease untreated. The first step is to schedule an appointment with Dr. Beck-Mayo for a consultation. Call our office in San Diego today at (858) 635-6700.
