Attention! If you lose your teeth at a young age, this dental disease may be to blame

March 20, 2025 is the 19th World Oral Health Day. This year's theme is "Oral Health for Physical and Mental Health".

As society develops, people's attention to oral health has increased year by year. After the widespread concern about hair loss among young people, the problem of "tooth loss" has also become a problem for many young and middle-aged people. Don't people lose their teeth when they get old? Why do teeth "age prematurely"?

Little do people know that the culprit for tooth loss is not age, but a disease: periodontal disease .

1. What is periodontal disease?

Periodontal disease refers to diseases that occur in the tooth-supporting tissues (periodontal tissues), including two major categories: gingival disease that only affects the gingival tissue and periodontitis that affects the deep periodontal tissues (periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and cementum).

Experts from Changsha Wangcheng District People's Hospital remind that periodontal disease is a common oral disease and one of the main causes of tooth loss in adults. This disease can occur at any age, but most patients are adults. The incidence rate increases significantly after the age of 35, and there is no difference between men and women.

2. How does periodontitis develop?

1. Dental Plaque

Dental plaque is mainly composed of bacteria, intercellular substances, desquamated epithelial cells and food debris that adhere to the surface of teeth, and is the most important local cause of periodontitis.

2. Dental calculus

Tartar is an important factor in the development of periodontitis.

3. Food impaction

Food stuck in teeth is also one of the common causes of local periodontal tissue inflammation, and it can also aggravate existing pathological changes in periodontal tissue.

4. Traumatic occlusion

Traumatic occlusion is an important local contributing factor.

3. What are the symptoms of periodontitis?

Early symptoms:

The early subjective symptoms are not obvious, often only irritative gingival bleeding or bad breath, which are similar to the symptoms of gingivitis.

Symptoms in the middle and late stages:

1. Periodontal pocket formation: Due to the expansion of inflammation, the periodontal membrane is destroyed, the alveolar bone is gradually absorbed, the gums are separated from the roots, the gingival sulcus deepens and a periodontal pocket is formed.

2. Periodontal suppuration: Ulcers and inflammatory granulation tissue form on the wall of the periodontal pocket, and purulent secretions remain in the pocket. Therefore, if you press the gums lightly, pus can be seen, and there is often bad breath.

3. Loose teeth: Due to the destruction of periodontal tissue, especially when the absorption of alveolar bone is aggravated, the supporting force of teeth is insufficient, resulting in loose teeth and displacement.

4. How to treat periodontal disease?

1. Basic treatment

This is the conventional treatment for periodontal disease, which clears or controls clinical inflammation and pathogenic factors, removes the cause, and eliminates inflammation.

2. Periodontal system treatment

When periodontitis develops to a certain stage, it is difficult to achieve good results with only basic treatment. Timely and appropriate surgical treatment must be used to save the affected teeth, including subgingival scaling, root planing, periodontal flap surgery, etc.

3. Restorative treatment and loose tooth fixation

Loose teeth and pain hinder the chewing function of the restoration, inflammatory periodontal tissue damages the abutment teeth, the tooth position is unstable during periodontal inflammation, the impression is inaccurate when the gingival inflammation is not eliminated, and the crown edge of the restoration must be established in the healthy gingival sulcus. Through restorative treatment, the function of the periodontal tissue is restored. For loose teeth that can be retained, it is necessary to perform loose tooth fixation.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Tan Yijie, Department of Stomatology, Wangcheng District People's Hospital, Changsha

Follow @湖南医聊 to get more health science information!

(Edited by ZS)