Taking care of your teeth does more than deter cavities and tooth decay. Your oral hygiene is connected to your overall health — bad bacteria in the mouth can have serious consequences for your heart, respiratory tract, and digestive system. Unfortunately, regular brushing and flossing aren’t always enough to prevent health problems. If you’re struggling with swollen, damaged, or receding gums, it’s important to contact a professional service for help, such as TheGumDr.

At TheGumDr, we help residents of Parkersburg, WV, Marietta, OH, and the surrounding areas prevent, diagnose and treat gum disease. After assessing the condition of your mouth, periodontist Richard Newhart will devise a unique, effective treatment plan to restore your smile to prime condition. Here’s a closer look at the services we offer.

Dental Implants

Damaged teeth don’t just hurt your confidence they also encourage harmful bacteria to fester. If you’re struggling with a chipped or missing tooth, consider getting dental implants to complete your smile. In essence, dental implants are artificial or fabricated tooth roots designed to look, feel, and function like a real tooth. They offer several benefits, such as:

• Security: Dental implants are anchored down to your actual gums, which enables them to chew food with the same force as your real teeth. It also helps keep the implant in place, which means you don’t have to worry about it slipping.
• Easy maintenance: Not only do dental implants seamlessly fit into your mouth, but they’re also easy to take care of. There’s no need for adhesives, soaking, or cleaning — just brush and floss as normal.
• Health advantages: Along with cosmetic benefits, dental implants actively reduce the risk of problems like bone loss and gum disease.

At TheGumDr, we offer high-quality, long-lasting dental implants that will improve your smile for years to come.

Receding Gums Treatment

Gum Recession: Soft tissue graft surgery. 3D illustration of Dental treatment

When plaque accumulates on the teeth, it can lead to periodontal disease. Along with bleeding and pain, one of the biggest symptoms of the disease is receding gums. If left unaddressed, this issue can escalate to the following:

• Tooth sensitivity: As gums recede, teeth become more sensitive. This makes it difficult to eat and increases the risk of decay.
• Tooth loss: Receding gums affect the tissues and bone structure that support the teeth, ultimately causing tooth loss.
• Jawbone damage: Gum recession is often linked to the jawbone. Over time, it can impact the jaw and cause pain or even jawbone loss.

To treat gum recession, Dr. Newhart sometimes uses the Free Gingival Graft, which involves taking tissue from the roof of the mouth and applying it to the gums. This tried and true method has been around since the 1960s and is often used when there’s no available healthy gum tissue. When paired with dental implants, it can improve the appearance of your smile and stop recession for the rest of your life.

Pinhole Surgical Technique

Gum recession is difficult to deal with. In addition to negatively impacting self-esteem, it encourages tooth loss and can lead to long-term problems with jawbone health. When encountering receding gums, many people falsely assume that they need to get a skin graft. While this is true for certain patients, others can rectify the problem with the pinhole surgical technique.

In this procedure, Dr. Newhart will gently make a small incision in the existing gum tissue. Next, he’ll loosen the tissue until it expands enough to cover the exposed tooth roots. There are several advantages to the pinhole surgical technique, such as:

• Minimally invasive
• Fast recovery times
• No stitches or sutures

When the procedure is done, you’ll be left with long-lasting, natural-looking gums. For the best results, the patient should have some healthy, existing gum tissue.

Gum Disease Treatment

Gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, is a rising issue in the United States. There are several potential causes, from smoking and medication to nutritional deficiencies and poor oral health. If left untreated, it can lead to tooth loss, gum recession, and even lung and heart issues. You can recognize gum disease through the following symptoms:

• Swollen or receding gums
• Redness or bleeding
• Loose teeth
• Oral sores
• Tooth sensitivity

Gum disease is preventable by brushing, flossing, and proper dental polishing. When gum disease has developed, you may need root planing (a deep cleaning below the gum-line). If you notice symptoms of gum disease, contact Dr. Newhart. He will ask questions, evaluate your teeth and determine the best gum disease treatment plan.

LANAP

The laser removes a thin layer of infected skin, teeth cleaning. Medically accurate tooth 3D illustration

Dental anxiety is a common problem among Americans. The idea of someone prodding in your mouth, performing incisions, and installing stitches can be overwhelming. If you’re struggling with periodontitis and don’t want to deal with cuts and stitches, you may be a good candidate for laser-assisted new attachment procedure or LANAP.

In this procedure, Dr. Newhart will use laser energy to carefully remove any diseased pocket epithelium and separate it from the tissue underneath. Not only is LANAP completely safe, but it also reduces the risk of the following:

• Gum inflammation
• Redness and swelling
• Tooth loss and sensitivity
• Gum recession
• Post-op infections

Ultimately, LANAP encourages gum tissue to heal and regenerate without damaging any healthy gums.

Bone Grafting

If you’re worried about a missing tooth, a dental implant can usually fix the problem. These implants, which resemble and act like real teeth, need to be anchored to the jawbone in order to stay in place. Unfortunately, the longer a tooth is missing, the more likely the bone is to melt away or reabsorb. While jawbone loss can complicate things, it’s still possible to have dental implants through bone grafting.

Before the graft, Dr. Newhart will administer a local anesthetic. Then, he’ll make a small incision in the gums. The graft may come from the following sources:

• The patient’s body
• A human donor
• An animal (usually cows)
• Artificial materials

As you recover, the bone will begin to mature — eventually, it will grow into a solid support system for your new replacement teeth.

Contact Our Periodontist in Parkersburg, WV Today!

If you recognize symptoms of gum disease, don’t suffer in silence. The sooner you seek treatment, the sooner you can enjoy a bright, healthy, and happy smile. At TheGumDr, we offer a collection of treatment options for periodontitis. Dr. Newhart is more than happy to have a conversation and work with you to find the best treatment for your needs. Learn more about our services by contacting our team today!