Treatments
Gum disease treatment
Gum disease is the most common reason adults lose teeth, and it usually progresses without pain, which is precisely why it gets missed. Caught early it is reversible. Left alone it is not.
Signs worth acting on
- Gums that bleed when you brush or floss
- Persistent bad breath or a bad taste
- Red, puffy or tender gums
- Gums that look like they are receding
- Teeth that feel loose or have shifted position
- Food packing into spaces that did not used to be there
Gum disease rarely hurts until it is well advanced, so the absence of pain tells you very little. Bleeding is the signal most people dismiss and the one worth taking seriously.
How it progresses
The distinction between these stages matters, because it decides whether treatment reverses the problem or contains it.
- 01
Gingivitis
Inflammation limited to the gums. They bleed, look red and feel tender, but the bone underneath is intact. This stage is generally reversible with a professional clean and a change to daily cleaning.
- 02
Early periodontitis
Inflammation has begun affecting the bone supporting the teeth, and small pockets form between gum and tooth. Deeper cleaning below the gum line is needed to halt it.
- 03
Advanced periodontitis
Significant bone loss, deeper pockets, and teeth that may loosen or drift. Treatment focuses on stopping further damage and keeping the teeth you have. Bone already lost does not come back.
What treatment involves
It starts with measuring. I check the depth of the pockets around each tooth, which gives a factual baseline rather than an impression, and means we can tell later whether treatment is actually working.
Treatment itself is thorough cleaning above and below the gum line to remove the deposits driving the inflammation, done under local anaesthetic where it needs to go deeper. Advanced cases may be split across appointments.
Then a review, because the point is not the clean itself but whether the gums respond to it. Ongoing maintenance at shorter intervals is usually what keeps it stable long term.
Some things make treatment much harder to succeed
Smoking is the significant one. It restricts blood flow to the gums, masks bleeding so the problem looks better than it is, and markedly reduces how well treatment works. Poorly controlled diabetes has a similar effect. Neither means treatment is pointless, but both change what is realistic, and you deserve to know that upfront.
Frequently asked questions
Get your gums assessed
Bleeding gums caught early are a straightforward problem. The same problem five years later is not. An assessment tells you exactly where you stand.