Gum Disease and Diabetes - Sedaros Oral Surgery

Do you have diabetes? If you do, you might be interested to know that having diabetes and chronically high blood sugar can increase your risk of developing gum disease. Additionally, having gum disease may make it harder for you to control your blood sugar levels. Our oral surgeon in Melbourne, FL wants to help you control your gum disease by making sure it gets treated in a timely manner, or become worse and turns into periodontal disease.

Diabetes Make Gum Disease Worse

Individuals with diabetes often have a difficult time healing from infections, and they are more susceptible to developing infections. Unfortunately, this also includes infections in the mouth, including gum disease. This is because gum disease is caused by increased levels of oral bacteria due to diabetes, improper oral hygiene, and forgetting to schedule regular teeth cleanings. In fact, individuals with diabetes need to maintain a strict oral care routine. This includes brushing the teeth multiple times a day, flossing once a day and regularly using mouthwash. When it comes to professional dental cleanings, individuals with diabetes may need more than two professional cleanings per year.

A lack of proper at-home and professional dental care can result in the fast development of gum disease and even form pockets between the teeth and gums. Individuals with chronically high blood sugar may also notice the rapid advancement of their gum disease and even an accelerated rate of gum recession, which eventually leads to jaw bone loss.

Signs of Gum Disease

An increase in cavities
Feeling like teeth are starting to become loose or shift
Gums that bleed easily
Oral infections, including gum infections, and abscesses
Sensitive teeth and gums
Severe gum recession
Swollen, red, and inflamed gums

How Oral Surgery Can Help with Severe Gum Disease

The good news about severe gum disease, even if you have diabetes, is that it is treatable with a variety of professional dental procedures. The first step generally involves treatment with your dentist in order to remove all the bacteria, plaque, and tartar from below the gum line.

Unfortunately, these treatments only stop the advancement of gum disease and heal any infections that have formed. They do not help the mouth regrow bone or lost gum tissue. In order to facilitate the regrowth of gum tissue and bone, the individual often has to utilize the services of our dental surgeon in Melbourne. Our oral surgeon can evaluate your gum and bone loss and devise a treatment plan to help you regrow lost bone in your jaw and to increase the height of your gums along your teeth. These treatments can also help close the pockets that have formed between your teeth and gums. This can give your teeth and gums a better appearance and help you prepare for your dental implants if you’ve lost teeth due to previous tooth extractions.

Increasing Bone Density with Our Oral Surgeon in Melbourne, FL

Increasing the density of your jaw in areas where periodontal disease has eaten away the bone involves taking a piece of bone from another part of your body or using bone from a bone bank. The piece or pieces of bone are then inserted under the gum, and the gum is stitched closed. Over the next few weeks and months, the grafted bone will fuse with your jaw. In order to increase the rate of healing and help lower the risk of experiencing complications, our dental surgeon in Melbourne can infuse platelet-rich plasma into the surgical site.

To schedule an appointment with our oral surgeon in Melbourne for periodontal surgical treatments or dental implants, contact us at 321-610-7868 today!