Gum Disease Treatment – Dallas, TX

Bringing Help to Ailing Gums

Elderly woman smiling with young woman after gum disease treatment in North Dallas

*Actual Patient

While they aren't the "flashiest" parts of your smile, your gums play a crucial role in oral health. These tissues keep your grin strong and stable when they work well, so problems with them harm your whole mouth. We thus offer gum disease treatment here in Dallas alongside our other dental services. Through this procedure, Dr. Mitchell heals your weakened gums so that they can keep your smile safe. Learn more about it by reading below, or book a consultation soon.

What is Gum Disease?

A woman revealing her red and inflamed gums

Per its name, gum disease is the infection of your gums – the pink tissues surrounding your teeth. It often results from plaque buildup due to poor oral care, a bad diet, and similar matters. The condition can also stem from risk factors like genetics, smoking habits, and so on.

Gum disease has two main stages: gingivitis and periodontitis. The first refers to a slight gum inflammation, which is fairly irritating but ultimately reversible (with proper care). In contrast, periodontitis is a severe infection that attacks and erodes your gum and jaw tissues; it’s irreversible and can’t be fully cured.

Symptoms of Gum Disease

A woman holding an illustration of diseased gums in front of her mouth

Because gum disease has two separate stages, it can show a wide range of symptoms. The specific signs it shows depend on its severity, rate of progress, etc.

Gingivitis has relatively mild symptoms, all things considered. These typically include:

Chronic bad breath (i.e., halitosis)
Slightly receding gums
Gum irritation and swelling
Bleeding gums

Meanwhile, the signs of periodontitis are rather harsh. The most notable ones are:

Tooth sensitivity (often due to gum recession)
Chewing pain
Loose permanent teeth
A shifting bite
Changes in a restoration’s fit
Permanent loss of teeth

How Do We Treat Gum Disease?

A man seeing his dentist for gum disease treatment

Depending on your case, our office can treat gum disease with three different methods. They are:

Scaling & Root Planing

A closeup of a mouth receiving scaling and root planing

Widely hailed as the “traditional” gum disease treatment, scaling and root planing are a two-step “deep cleaning” of your gums. The first phase – scaling – removes plaque deposits from under and around your gums with special instruments. Root planing then smooths out your tooth roots, reducing your risk of reinfection and helping your gum tissues reattach. Both steps work together to make your gums healthier, and they show even greater effectiveness when combined with other options.

Antibiotic Therapy

Our office usually suggests antibiotic therapy for severe cases of gum disease. Performed with scaling and root planing, this procedure applies antibiotics to your infected gums. The applied medicine then kills the bacteria harming your gum tissues, dealing a major blow to your infection. It thus helps your gums heal over roughly two weeks, to the point that they have much smaller pockets.

Laser Periodontal Treatment

Instead of “standard” scaling and root planing, you may benefit more from laser periodontal treatment. This option relies on a diode laser to remove your smile’s infected gum tissue. In doing so, it precisely targets your infection and removes harmful bacteria with no bleeding or pain. The process is thus non-invasive and leaves healthy gum tissue intact, all while promoting faster healing and recovery.