Gingivitis is generally a swelling of the gums that precedes severe gum disease. If you are experiencing symptoms such as swollen and bleeding gums, sores, or even receding gums, you should visit a dental clinic for immediate examination.

Your dentist will typically be able to determine how advanced your gingivitis is and offer treatment to reverse it and prevent full-blown gum disease. Read on to learn the importance of early gingivitis detection and treatment.

Remove tartar

Gingivitis is generally treatable in its early stages, which is why it helps to seek treatment immediately after you notice signs of gum deterioration. 

The main reason why you need professional help when your gums are infected is for tartar removal. Plaque can form on your teeth over time if you forgo tooth brushing and flossing, eventually hardening into a thick layer of tartar that is very difficult to remove using any home care techniques. This tartar layer often infiltrates the gum line and causes an infection of the gums, resulting in severe pain, swelling, and bleeding. 

Your dentist or periodontist is typically trained to scrape off tartar, helping to reverse the damage to the gums. A thorough deep cleaning procedure, called root scaling, is often performed to clean out tartar buried deep in the gum pockets. After the cleaning, your gums may need to be flattened back into the gum line so they resume their normal shape and prevent any further infiltration of tartar.

Halt infections

Gingivitis can cause severe infections of the gums, jawbone, and teeth. Apart from causing normal symptoms such as swelling, pain, and bleeding, gum infections can lead to severe gum recession over time, causing teeth to become wobbly. In such cases, gingivitis surgery is usually performed, where oral tissue is removed from the upper mouth and grafted onto infected sections of the gums.

In certain cases, bacteria in the gums can reach the bone that supports your teeth or infiltrate the inner tooth via cracks and cavities, causing a life-threatening abscess that can get into your bloodstream and affect major organs.

In instances where the infection has reached the inner tooth, a root canal may be required to remove infected pulp tissue and seal the tooth with a dental crown. If the infection has already reached the jawbone, tooth extraction is often recommended so as to remove any cyst in the bone and drain the abscess. 

Early gingivitis treatment can help remove bacteria in the gums and teeth before they can cause gum recession or a tooth abscess.