Gingivitis en Parodontitis

One of the most important spots in your mouth to keep your teeth healthy, is the transition area from tooth to gums. When much tartar is present at this point, the gums will become infected. The gums turn red and appear to be swollen. When you brush your teeth or press upon the gums, bleeding will occur. This condition is called gingivitis. This condition can be cured quite quickly when the oral hygienist removes the tartar en you start using in addition to toothpaste with fluor, proxy brushes, tooth picks et cetera, to remove plaque on a daily basis. This is easily to check: healthy gums are light pink in color and are situated firmly around teeth and molars. And they do not bleed during brushing. When the gingivitis is left untreated, it can get worse which causes the fibers that hold the tooth into the jawbone, to deteriorate. Even the jawbone may erode.  The space that forms between gums and jawbone (called pockets) because fibers got lost will be filled in with plaque and tartar. The intrusive gum disease that will be developed is called periodontitis and this causes further deterioration of the fundament of your teeth. When plaque and tartar is not removed, teeth and molar can become loose. They can fall out or have to be extracted because too much of the fundament is gone.

Therefore it is very important to floss in the appropriate way between the contact point of your teeth and molars, to use tooth picks and proxy brushes and to brush your teeth as one should. With a good oral hygiene comes cleaning your tongue; it will give you fresher breath. These are all things the oral hygienist and prevention assistant can teach you. Tartar is never innocent but can be a prelude to very nasty developments. Tartar is nothing more than hardened plaque. Plaque is often not detectable with the naked eye, because it has the same color as your teeth. However, teeth with plaque tend to feel less smooth. But tartar and plaque between teeth is almost invisible and cannot be felt too. Our oral hygienists remove tartar in a professional way and tell you what to do to prevent this from developing again as much as possible.

Visiting the oral hygienist on a regular basis is therefore not a luxury but can be the key to keeping your teeth in healthy order, as well as healthy gums and jawbone. Because a radiant smile says zilch about the health of your mouth and this starts at the basis and that would be the oral hygienist.