According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, between 2009 to 2014, periodontitis affected 42% of US adults aged 30 years or older. This is a severe dental issue and requires specialized care.
Many dentists recommend gingival irrigation to dental patients suffering from periodontal diseases. This procedure helps to eliminate the bacterial layers in order to treat periodontal diseases or other dental issues such as inflammation, mouth infections, etc.
In this article, you will learn about the health benefits of oral irrigation. Let’s get started!
What is Gingival Irrigation?
Oral irrigation is a common dental procedure dentists use to treat periodontal diseases. In this procedure, dental hygienists apply a stream of antimicrobial chlorotoxin agents on the gum line to loosen or remove the bacterial build-up layers.
The bacterial layers, such as plaque or tartar, cause periodontal and gum diseases. That is why it is necessary to eliminate these layers from the root to the surface of the tooth. Dentists usually perform dental scaling to treat periodontitis. And then perform dental irrigation to remove all the bacteria from the tooth.
This is an effective method of tooth cleaning procedure and has many benefits in maintaining oral health. Let’s discuss the benefits of dental irrigation in detail.
Benefits of Gum Irrigation
Oral irrigation treats many periodontal and gum diseases and aid in maintaining dental integrity. The procedure helps to treat gums inflammation, halitosis, gums bleeding, and other mouth infections. Let’s discuss how oral irrigation helps to treat these dental issues.
- Treat Gums Inflammation
Swollen gums occur very quickly if people do not brush their teeth well. A whitish layer of plaque or tartar starts covering the gumline tooth area, making the gums swollen. These swollen or red gums are the early signs of gum disease. The swelling needs to be reduced as quickly as possible before it goes to the severe stages.
As the gums start swelling, they cover more of the tooth surface and hide a lot of plaque that causes it between the root of the tooth and the actual gum. So, by shrinking the gum, you actually find it easier to clean the area where the damage is being caused.
Gum irrigation is the chlorhexidine rinse to wash off the microbial layers from the tooth surface. Dental hygienists place the antimicrobial agent’s sub gingivally to eliminate the bacterial layer from the root.
Dentists perform periodontal scaling, and right after that, they do oral irrigation to eliminate the bacterial presence. This agent washes off the free-floating disease-causing bacteria from the gums pocket that can still cause damage. So, you can say oral irrigation makes the dental cleaning procedure even more effective.
- Prevent Bleeding
You may wonder how oral irrigation helps to stop gums’ bleeding. However, it is a fact, and I will tell you how it works!
The irrigation technique creates pulsations that have a massaging impact on the gums. This pulsive effect aids in bringing oxygen to the tissues that help in moving the food particles and bacteria out.
It does not let the bacteria stay on the tooth surface or under the gum. This way, there are no chances of plaque or tartar build-up that cause gums swelling or bleeding.
- Treat Halitosis
Halitosis or bad breath is the most common issue among dental patients. The leading cause of bad breath is the leftover food particles that are stuck between the teeth. These food particles keep on accumulating and enhance the chances of bacterial infection in the tooth.
If a person does not brush his teeth well, these particles deposit and grow odor-producing bacteria inside the mouth. The odor-producing bacterias release sulfur compounds causing the breath to smell bad. Dental irrigation helps to move out these food particles from the mouth and eliminate the bacteria causing bad breath.
- Interdental and Subgingival Cleaning
Oral irrigation is helpful for the removal of debris between the teeth. This debris contains harmful bacteria, which can damage teeth. Further, the bacteria damage the tooth structure and affect the health of the gums.
The irrigation process flushes out all the bacteria from the periodontal pocket and beneath the gum line. In this way, it improves the overall health of the gums.
- Prevent tooth damage and decay
Dental issues such as tooth damage or decay can easily be prevented with oral irrigation. The process eliminates the main cause of tooth decay or damage, which is the presence of untreated plaque and tartar. These bacterial layers damage the roots of the tooth and produce acid, which can cause dental caries. If patients do not go for early treatment, they may later suffer from gum diseases or dental abscesses, which is the accumulation of pus in the gums.
The severe effects of these dental issues lead to tooth decay. Periodontists provide oral irrigation to remove all the bacteria that can affect the teeth or gums and maintain oral health.
- Prevent Mouth Infection
Unhealthy food contains hazardous bacteria, which combine with saliva and spread to the surrounding tissues. These bacteria cause major dental infections and affect tooth and gum health. Such patients experience a pimple-like infection on the gums or other mouth areas. Dental hygienists recommend gingival irrigation in order to get rid of mouth infections.
Oral irrigation is an effective procedure to reduce the chances of bacterial infection in patients. It consists of an antimicrobial agent that makes the tooth surface free from bacterial presence.
Dentists usually combine the agents with water and apply them to the gumline of patients to eliminate hazardous bacteria.
Want More Info Regarding Oral Irrigation?
Oral health is an integral part of human health, and if people do not take proper care of their oral hygiene, a bacterial layer of plaque may start forming on their teeth. These layers turn into diseases that require treatments like dental irrigation.
As I have mention above, gingival irrigation is a beneficial and efficient dental cleaning procedure that helps in the treatment of periodontal diseases. If any patient feels the signs of the disease, they should go to the dentist for treatment.
To get more information regarding dental irrigation, check out the blogs of GerDentUSA. They provide a detailed guide on oral irrigation. Go and check to learn more about this efficient procedure.