Nursing Case Study Ingivitis

ingivitis is one of the periodontal disease that is characterized by the changes in color, consistency, and contour of the gingiva tissues. The reasons for these changes might be due to the presence of plaque, and in this case it can be modified by systemic diseases (diabetes) , the use of certain medications (anticonvulsant, immunosuppressant, calcium channel blocking agents), and malnutrition (lack of vitamin C). In case it is not induced by the accumulation of plaque, it might be caused by a bacteria, a virus or a fungi infection, a genetic or systemic condition, a traumatic lesion, or a foreign body reaction. The most common type is plaque related, and it is due to the accumulation of plaque in the gingival sulcus for more than 4 days and the change in the population of the plaque are as follow: 4 days/Gram-positive cocci, after 7 days/Gram-negative bacteria start to appear, when there is bleeding involved/spirochetes and Gram-negative rods are …show more content…
The byproducts of the bacteria found in plaque, will start an inflammatory reaction that will increase the blood flow to the gingiva producing the tissue to become red, swollen, and soft. This inflammation is confine just to the gingiva tissue, and it is reversible. This means that as soon as the agent that is responsible of the inflammation is removed, the gingiva returns to its normal color, consistency and contour (Pink, firm, and scalloped). In case the gingivitis is induced by plaque, the modifying factors can complicate the clinical findings, but when it is induced by non-plaque related conditions, the symptoms do not go away by eliminating the plaque if it is present, the condition must be address first in order for the gingiva tissue