By Dr. Azim Malik Specialist Periodontist and Implant Surgeon

THE FOUR STAGES OF GUM DISEASE

Gum disease is classified as stage one to stage four.

We can say stage one is mild, two is moderate, three is severe and four is very severe.

One way of diagnosing is by looking at the bone level.

So you lose more bone if you have stage four, stage three is less bone, and stage two is even less bone and one is pretty mild bone loss.

Gum disease grades

And then we have grade A to C, which takes your age into account.

So if you are 20 years old and you've got 15% bone loss, your grading is A – because it’s an age to bone loss ratio.

If you are 20 but your bone loss is 30% – it’s a grade C.

If you're 20 and your bone loss is about 20% then it’s a grade B.

So the higher the grade, the faster the disease is spreading – or the faster the damage is progressing.

Is gum disease more prevalent in older people?

It’s difficult to say.

Because, yes, we lose some natural bone over a period of time.

And it may be that it’s picked up a bit late.

But if you are a gum disease patient, you're a gum disease patient – end of story.

/., But it's usually picked up between 35-60 in my experience.

Stages of periodontal disease

It’s not as prevalent in young people – and I consider anything under the age of 45 to be young.

But nevertheless, I see gum disease in young people very often.

And I would say at least 15 to 20% of my patients are under 45, which is quite substantial.

I’ve seen severe disease in a patient as young as 21 – to the point at which your teeth will probably not be in your mouth in 10 years if nothing's done about it.