Periodontitis

What is periodontitis?

Periodontitis is a chronic disease, and as is true for other chronic conditions, it requires constant monitoring throughout life following active treatment. Depending on the used treatment (gingivitis, mild, moderate or severe periodontitis), patient’s oral hygiene practices, percentage of bleeding, number of teeth that have gum pockets >4 mm, smoking and general health condition, an individual re-call schedule will be established after the end of active treatment. During the first year following treatment, the patient has to visit the dentist more frequently.

Check-Up

The patient should go to a check-up and teeth cleaning every 3–4 months. Later, the frequency of re-call depends on the above mentioned factors. Preserving treatment is important for patients that undergo a corrective treatment phase as well as for those that have only non-surgical treatment. As the patients that have suffered from periodontitis belong to a risk group with a higher likelihood of reoccurrence of the disease, it is very important to regularly keep track of the condition of the gums. 

Studies

Studies show that in case of application of a regular re-call system very few patients and small amount of teeth surface experience reoccurrence or progression of the disease. Loss of teeth during this period was <2% and most of the teeth were removed in relation to some other diagnosis (e.g. broken roots). The study also showed that dental caries occurred much less frequently during this 30-year period (on an average 1–2 new cases per a person, of which most were related to old fillings). A thorough check-up is important for the preservation of healthy gums and teeth.

The patient and the doctor have equal responsibility in ensuring successful treatment of inflammation of teeth attachment apparatus. Because the main cause of these diseases is biofilm on the teeth, it is important that the patient persistently removes these layers. To achieve that, it is important to learn together with the dentist the correct hygiene practices and to use them at home every day. It is possible to clean the teeth very thoroughly at a dentist’s practice, but if consistent cleaning is not ensured at home, the situation will soon be the same as at the beginning of the treatment.

Smoking is a very important risk factor in the progression of gingivitis.  Giving up smoking or drastic reduction of smoking will definitely help achieve better treatment results. As many factors that cause and foster the progression of periodontal diseases cannot be changed (e.g. the body’s protective mechanisms), the patients must be informed that hygiene habits and smoking can be changed and this is where the patients can do their part in the treatment of inflammation of their teeth attachment apparatus.