Even healthy teeth can be lost due to a lack of supporting structure such as the gums and bone. Did you know that 8 out of 10 times a tooth is lost it is because of periodontal disease?

The good news is that when your dentist diagnoses or hygienist recognizes early or late stage periodontal disease, there are therapies that can often slow down and almost stop the progression of bone loss. The goal is to actively fight or eliminate the active infection in your gums to keep the bone and gums from melting away from the tooth root.

Much like a wobbly fence post that does not have enough dirt around it, we have to identify and prevent erosion or melting away of the gums and bone supporting your teeth. The top 3 risk factors for bone loss are Diabetes, Smoking, and Age. Many times this leads to things like bleeding gums, gum recession, wiggly teeth, or tooth loss. If caught early enough we can usually save teeth with early to middle stages of these conditions.