Call me back

We’re Accepting New Patients!

Read More Next

Looking for a caring and professional dental practice? We’re excited to welcome new patients to our clinic! Whether you’re due for a check-up, need treatment, or are looking to enhance your smile, our friendly team is here to help.
Contact us today to book your first appointment—we look forward to meeting you!

Gum Disease Therapy Monmouth, South Wales

Gum disease is one of the most common oral diseases and affects people of all ages. Caused by a build-up of plaque and bacteria on the gum line, gum disease can lead to bleeding, inflammation and redness and if left to progress, can lead to tooth loss.

Gum disease can also be aggravated by:

  • Smoking
  • Lack of brushing or flossing
  • If you have diabetes or other chronic diseases
  • Certain medications

If you spot signs of gum disease you can initially treat these at home by stepping up your hygiene routine and using dentist-approved products. If your symptoms do not improve, your The Mayhill Dental and Specialist Centre dentist and dental hygienist will recommend a personal oral health plan to address your individual needs. Gum hygiene is important to ensure that your teeth remain supported and healthy.

Advanced gum disease

The first stage of gum disease, known as gingivitis, can be simple to reverse. However, if left to progress it can develop into a more advanced form of gum disease known as periodontitis, resulting in the formation of gaps between the gums and teeth, known as pockets. More plaque can collect in these pockets and thus continue the progression of the disease. As the pockets deepen, the plaque becomes more inaccessible to cleaning, more extensive and more toxic. This leads to increasing damage to the supporting bone around the roots of the teeth.

Periodontal treatment is provided by our specialist periodontist who will clean the pockets around teeth to prevent damage to surrounding bone. The majority of Periodontal treatment involves thoroughly cleaning the tooth root surface. However, advanced cases may it also involve surgical and restorative techniques.

After initial stabilisation of the condition has been achieved, a thorough lifelong home care regime is required to prevent future lapses, along with regular monitoring and maintenance from your dentist and dental hygienist.

If you are suffering with symptoms of gum disease book a review with our dental hygiene team today.

How to help preserve your gums and keep them healthy

The causes of periodontal disease include family history, poor oral hygiene, bacterial dental plaque, diabetes and smoking. There is growing evidence linking periodontitis to diabetes, heart disease and other systemic disease. It is therefore important to treat periodontitis not just for oral health but general health.

Periodontal disease can lead to the loss of attachment of the gum, connecting tissues and bone to the teeth. Common periodontal conditions are gingivitis and periodontitis which are both caused by plaque or what is known as bacterial biofilm. Dental plaque is sticky colourless film that forms on the teeth and contains bacteria. Most periodontal disease is caused by the bacterial biofilm that collects around the teeth in the absence of effective oral hygiene and the way the body’s immune system reacts to it. Recent studies have shown how periodontal disease and systemic (general body) disease impact each other.

Periodontitis affects 10-15 percent of the population and is inflammation which extends to form a pocket between the tooth and infected gums. The symptoms are swollen red or bleeding gums, over-sensitive teeth or bad breath. Symptoms of advanced periodontitis may include abscesses, loose teeth and eventually tooth loss. Teeth can become loose and drift from their position. It can also lead to receding gums which exposes more of the root which can heighten sensitivity.

Gum disease is generally asymptomatic (silent). Early warning signs may be slight bleeding when you brush or floss, slight tenderness and inflammation of the gum margins, bad taste or breath.

If your dentist has diagnosed periodontal disease or there is a problem with your gums then a referral would be advisable. Periodontitis is common and is often painless until the later stages. If left untreated it can destroy the bone and tissue that surround the teeth. Your dentist may also refer you to replace lost gum tissue and crown lengthening to improve appearance.

There are 2 types of advanced periodontal treatments

1) Non-surgical treatment

This involves careful cleaning of the root surfaces to remove plaque from deep periodontal pockets. The majority of patients will require ongoing maintenance therapy to sustain optimum health. If this is unsuccessful then surgery may be needed to restore the periodontal anatomy damaged by the disease.

2) Periodontal surgery

When damaged tissue around the teeth cannot be repaired then surgery becomes necessary and can include:

  • pocket reduction.  
  • Regenerative procedures to replace lost bone and tissue.  
  • Crown lengthening lays the groundwork for restorative dentistry and to improve the aesthetics of your gum line.

We all know of the harmful effects that smoking tobacco has on our general health. In the mouth it can cause white patches and oral cancer. Over the past 20 years research has shown that smoking causes significant harm to the periodontal (gum) tissues.

Evidence shows that:

  • smokers have more severe gum disease than non-smokers and more loss of gum and bone support.  
  • less response to periodontal treatment and likely reoccurrence of the disease  
  • greater tooth loss

The good news is that people who stop smoking respond well to periodontal treatment as non-smokers. The appearance and health of the gums will improve with treatment only a few months after treatment.

Although quitting smoking is difficult, it is crucial to achieving great gum health and would encourage you to stop smoking as part of your periodontal therapy. Your GP practice may have stop smoking trained professionals. Alternatively help is available at www.stopsmokingwales.com tel 0800 0852219 or www.wales.nhs.uk. Stop smoking support increases the success of quitting by four times. This is further doubled by the use of nicotine replacement therapy.

Please feel free to ask for further advice about the effects of tobacco smoking or help in taking the first steps in quitting.

About your Periodontal consultation

We will carefully examine your gums, tissues supporting your teeth and take radiographs if necessary. Every aspect of gum problem will be explained including diagnosis, prognosis and treatment planning.

Dr Jim Dufty leads our periodontal service and has had many years of experience treating these conditions successfully. Jim has a realistic approach and will do whatever he can to save the natural dentition. This can include hard and soft tissue grafting where appropriate.

He takes referrals for perio and perio/ restorative patients and provides a full range of both non-surgical and surgical perio treatments. He is also involved with the placement of implants and the treatment of peri-implantitis. He has published internationally and continues to be involved with dental postgraduate education, working with King’s College London’s Prosthodontic MClinDent and Aesthetic Dentistry MSc distance learning programmes in both teaching and advisory roles.

Gum Disease therapy south wales

Meet the team

Dr Jim Dufty

Specialist interest in Periodontics

GDC NO. 76008

Cathrine Tait

Dental Hygienist and Therapist

GDC NO. 5182

Tracy McNulty

Dental Hygienist

GDC NO. 3257

Previous
Next
Patient Reviews

People are talking about us

The biggest complement we receive is when our patients refer their friends and family to The Mayhill Dental and Specialist Centre. In fact, we have built much of our practice on these valued, trusted recommendations over the years. Read our reviews to hear why our patients are recommending us…

Leave a Google Review

Patient reviews

797 Reviews

5.0

25th July 2025

Katharine listens to my needs and concerns and does her best to make the visit as pleasant as possible. This time I tried the new method of cleaning teeth and found it more comfortablevif a little noisy. All in all a good exXperience

24th July 2025

The problem I have was well explained, I was kindly handled, I fel that my concerns were understood and remembered

21st July 2025

Treatment is for invisaligners. Work prior to, and my ongoing treatments has been excrptional. Very satisfied with results so far

18th July 2025

I trust your expertise so am relaxed when treated by you.

17th July 2025

The team are very personable, knowledgeable and always helpful with advice. It's very rare you have to wait for your appointment and most importantly the team have great expertese. I also like that they are continuing to invest in new methods, treatment practices and ideas. It's the best practice that I have been a part of, so for me they are doing a great job.

16th July 2025

It’s good to be able to combine visits to the dentist and hygienist at the same appointment. The staff are always friendly and professional here.

15th July 2025

From first contact with the Reception staff through to the welcome once I attended the clinic and the expertise and professionalism of the dentist and dental nurse, I experienced the highest standards of service and customer care. I was provided with a full explanation of my treatment plan with thorough examination and medical history taken together with time taken to ensure I fully understood the process. I had to wait a short time for the appointment but had a personal apology for the delay twice during that short time. This is a practice that upholds the highest standards of customer care and makes you feel very welcome and that you are the priority during your time at the practice.

11th July 2025

WelcomingFriendly Professional

10th July 2025

It is a profesionally run, pleasent, and forward thinking practice

9th July 2025

Staff have always been excellent. Tracey has been excellent throughout, explaining what has to be done to keep my teeth clean. Also very personable. Similarly Jason has been thorough and explains what/why he is doing during the check up. Reception are always helpful and pleasant, we both think it was the best thing we did coming to this Dental Clinic - 10+ years ago.

9th July 2025

Always an A1 service

8th July 2025

A totally professional experience, everyone was helpful and nothing appeared to be too much trouble.I cannot fault anything during my visit, even the staff seemed happy to be at work and that was clear when speaking to the staff.

6th July 2025

Just excellent all round

5th July 2025

I always get great care from Tracey and Jason - and their support team.

4th July 2025

Excellent knowledgeable staff. Very welcoming.

4th July 2025

Excellent service, friendly, all very well explained. Ben G is simply the best.

4th July 2025

This is an amazing dental surgery. Everyone I’ve met there has been friendly, welcoming and utterly professional. I trust them completely with my treatment and always have a great experience there. Fantastic team!

4th July 2025

Seen immediately, friendly service and everything explained clearly.

3rd July 2025

Everyone is extremely professional and pleasant.

DT

Deb Tennant

Friendly, professional. Thanks

Prev Previous
Next Next

Why choose us?

Multi Award Winning

Multi Award
Winning

Five Star Customer Service

Five Star
Customer Service

Invisalign Provider

Invisalign
Provider

State Of The Art Facilities

State Of The
Art Facilities

Leading Dental Care

Leading
Dental Care