Reversing Periodontal Disease

Dr. Jason Hecht: We're very concerned with tooth loss here. And a lot of people think of tooth loss coming from having cavities, big cavities than having root canals that don't work out and needing to have the teeth taken out because of that. But that's only 25% percent of the cases. What's actually more prevalent in the adult population is gum disease, periodontal disease. And what happens is the housing that holds the tooth in place, that basically the gum and the bone become diseased through a series of processes caused by bacteria and something basically growing on the tooth and that housing. The gum and the bone actually begin stripping off of the tooth, making the tooth more loose, more mobile. And that tooth begins to move. And that process of the tooth becoming more mobile will actually create an even worse situation for the tooth. And it's a steady situation that gets worse and worse. And that's the number one cause of tooth loss, gum disease. And it's an unfortunate thing because when treated early, when treated correctly, it doesn't have to be the case. If you intervene, come in have the gum treatments, have the cleanings done, it can be arrested and stopped and you don't have to lose that tooth if you address it. Dr. Alex Hecht: Hopefully, it's early enough that you can clean up the plaque and the tartar that's around the teeth. Make sure that the patient starts keeping up with the cleaning themselves because it has to be done on a daily basis. If you don't do it on a daily basis, even though you have your teeth cleaned and returned to a healthy condition by a hygienist and the regimes that we incorporate here, if you don't do regular home care, and if you don't follow up on a regular basis with a hygienist, you're going to be back in the same boat as you were when you started. Dr. Jason Hecht: We really have a fantastic staff here at maintaining the gums and getting the gums clean. They genuinely come in every day. and they're excited about it. They really want to get teeth clean. And it's really their passion. And we let them deliver that passion to our patients.