Not all pockets are immediately considered harmful. The periodontal pocket process starts with gingivitis, a gum infection caused by the buildup of plaque in the mouth. Plaque is a sticky film ...

A gum abscess is a pocket of infection in the gums or the space between the teeth and the gums. Bacteria may reach the area due to a dental abscess or another oral hygiene issue, such as ...

Your dentist will scrape away all your plaque and tartar on your teeth — scaling -- both above and below your gum line, down to the periodontal pocket. After removing plaque, your dentist will ...

"We use a small probe to measure the space that exists between the tooth and the gum tissue that surrounds it. If this space is between 1 mm and 3 mm, the pocket is classified as healthy.

There are a variety of treatments for gum disease, depending on the stage ... the gums start separating from the tooth, creating a pocket,” Sahl says. This pulling away is called receding ...

Gingivitis symptoms include gum discoloration and bleeding ... X-ray or periodontal probing using an instrument that measures pocket depths around a tooth. If diagnosis happens early and treatment ...

It also smooths each tooth’s root surface so that gum tissue can heal around the root. This also helps to shrink the pocket. If you have a deep pocket or bone loss but the tooth may still be ...

Nearly half of U.S. adults over 30 show signs of gum disease, which can cause tooth loss. Here’s how to recognize and treat it. By Melinda Wenner Moyer If your spit is sometimes tinged pink at ...