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Many people visit the hospital immediately when they have cold symptoms such as coughing or high fever, but the pain in the teeth is not a major cause, and many people visit the dentist only after a long delay and unbearable pain.
Since most dental diseases do not have subjective symptoms in the early stage and progress slowly chronically, it is important to receive early diagnosis through regular oral examination.
Even if the early diagnosis period is missed and dental diseases such as dental caries (caries), fracture, periodontal disease (gum disease) have progressed considerably, rather than unconditionally removing the tooth and placing an implant, it is possible to leave natural teeth and use restoration treatment. It is good to try root canal (nerve) treatment and periodontal treatment.
For example, dental caries that has directly damaged teeth, if the caries is limited to the outermost layer of the tooth, enamel and some dentin, restoration treatment using resins is possible, but if it reaches the pulp, the infected pulp is removed It may require endodontic treatment, which is filled with biocompatible materials. In some cases, treatment such as apical surgery or tooth replantation is performed.
However, in the case of periodontal disease in which the periodontal tissue surrounding the tooth (gingival, alveolar bone, periodontal ligament, chalky, etc.) is destroyed, even if the tooth itself does not have a problem, the tooth may be lost due to the destruction of the periodontal tissue. In the early stages of periodontal disease, inflammation is confined to the gingiva, and this is called gingivitis.
Gingivitis is a symptom of swollen gums, a reddish color, and bleeding when brushing. In the early stages of inflammation, it is possible to recover with simple treatments such as scaling, but since most of them do not cause severe pain, patients do not visit the dentist and thus miss the right time for treatment and develop periodontitis.
Periodontitis occurs mostly when gingivitis is not properly treated. As inflammation, which was limited to the gums, gradually spreads, alveolar bone destruction and gingival retraction (the tooth roots are exposed due to the loss of gum tissue) occur. In severe cases, it causes tooth agitation (the tooth shakes side to side or up and down) and eventually leads to tooth loss.
Treatment of periodontal disease is largely divided into non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment. Non-surgical treatment is performed when periodontal disease is not severe. Scaling and root mobilization are typical, and it removes plaque and calculus to relieve inflammation and induce reattachment and regeneration of periodontal tissue. Surgical treatment includes gingival resection, gingival plastic surgery, periodontal valve surgery, regenerative periodontal surgery, periodontal plastic surgery, and so on. It can ideally change the shape of tissue and promote the regeneration of lost tissue.
In particular, tissue-guided regeneration, which is one of the regenerative periodontal surgery, is a technique that restores already lost gums or alveolar bones to their original state. A thin barrier layer (shield) is used to physically block unwanted cell intervention or proliferation, and promote healing by inducing cell proliferation of selected tissues, helping the supporting structures around the natural teeth restore their original functions.
The reason natural teeth should be preserved as much as possible is that natural teeth have many advantages over implants.
First, you can feel the chewy taste along with the unique taste of the food. Since natural teeth have their own cells and nerves, they can sense the temperature or hardness of food, and have excellent ability to cope with hot or cold stimuli, so they can chew food much more naturally.
Second, there is a periodontal ligament. The periodontal ligament is a thin film located between the teeth and the alveolar bone (gum bone), and acts as a kind of cushion to relieve weight or impact on the teeth. In addition, since it acts as a barrier against bacterial invasion, it is possible to slow the rate at which inflammation initiated from the gingiva leads to periodontal tissue destruction. On the other hand, implants do not have periodontal ligaments, so periodontal tissue destruction proceeds faster than natural teeth.
Third, it has the shape and number of roots optimized according to the location and function. Compared to the implant having one artificial root (artificial tooth root), the molar tooth has several roots, which effectively disperse the chewing force given from various directions or the external impact.
Fourth, oral hygiene management is easy. Natural teeth are located at appropriate intervals between teeth. However, because implants have a smaller diameter at the root than in natural teeth, the gap between teeth is widened, so food is easily caught.
Fifth, it has excellent aesthetics. It is not easy to perfectly reproduce the shape, transparency, and color tone of natural teeth in any implant prosthesis.
Professor Seong-Tae Kim (periodontist) of the Department of Periodontology at Seoul National University Dental Hospital said, “Implants have become a popular treatment as a replacement for natural teeth, but it is difficult to replace the superiority of natural teeth as much as possible.” It is advisable to try a treatment that uses and maintains, and it is good to leave the implant as the last option.”
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