What is the best solution for periodontal pocket?

Answer 1

Up to 95% of Americans unknowingly suffer from periodontal (gum) disease. Unfortunately, periodontal disease not only destroys teeth, gums and the bone in your mouth, but it can also contribute to conditions like heart attack, stroke, Diabetes, premature births and low birth weights.

The public has many misconceptions about oral health, one being that teeth are not meant to last an entire lifetime. In truth, no other part of the human body is as able to recover from disease. Yet it is "common knowledge" that we begin to get cavities at a young age, and our teeth continue to deteriorate until old age when they must be replaced with a set of dentures.

But, in the absence of gum disease, teeth and gums have every chance of remaining healthy and strong for your entire life. The rest of your body can be healthier too!

So what causes a periodontal pocket? When we eat food, it begins to break down with the saliva in our mouth, resulting in a bacterial by-product called plaque biofilm. This biofilm settles down into the gums in a pocket around the tooth. If left in the mouth, this plaque causes an immune response from the body to attack the area where it is located. This can lead to swollen, bleeding gums, loss of gum tissue, bone and eventually teeth. As the gums pull away from the tooth, the receding tissue becomes obvious, leaving exposed root surfaces.

To combat bleeding gums and recession, one must be able to clean under the gum line where the pockets between the teeth and gums house this infectious biofilm. Unfortunately, simple brushing and flossing are physically unable to reach the bottom of the deepest periodontal pocket or the grooves between roots of teeth. Rinses and creams will only treat the superficial symptoms, not the underlying infection.

The answer is oral Irrigation. These devices gently flush out loosely attached plaque and food particles from under the gum line and between teeth, thus preventing bacteria from setting up housekeeping and causing gum disease. The most common irrigator is the Waterpik which is electric powered and the OralBreeze which is water powered.. both can be purchased on Amazon.