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Everyone knows about cavities & how they affect your teeth and your oral health, but you never hear very much about gum disease. What is gum disease? How can you protect your gums and teeth from gum disease? And what causes it anyway?
Gum disease (officially called periodontal disease) is the infection of the gums. It is caused by bacteria getting under your gum tissue & eroding your gums & teeth. If left untreated, gum disease can lead to many health issues, including tooth loss, heart disease, stroke & diabetes.
Gingivitis is an early stage of gum disease that manifests as inflammation. Your gums might be swollen & red, & they might bleed when you brush your teeth or floss. Gingivitis can be treated by maintaining your oral health with regular brushing, flossing & visits to your dentist.
Periodontitis is a more serious form of gum disease that erodes the bone & tissues surrounding your teeth. If left untreated, periodontitis can cause you to lose your teeth!
Gum disease occurs when plaque builds up on your teeth, so the best thing you can do to combat it is to clean your teeth regularly!
Gum disease is caused by a variety of factors & has been linked to illnesses that affect your immune system. You are at a higher risk for gum disease if you have cancer, diabetes & HIV, because your immune system can’t fight the bacterial infections that might lead to periodontal disease as well.
Smokers, pregnant women & people with high stress levels are also at risk, & some medications that cause dry mouth can put you at risk as well.
In its early stages, gum disease can be managed & prevented by regular brushing & flossing. Visiting your dentist for a professional cleaning goes a long way toward keeping your gums & teeth healthy as well! If your dentist sees signs of gum disease during your dental exam, they can do deep cleanings called scaling & root planing to remove plaque & tartar from your teeth & keep your gums healthy. If your gum disease is more serious, it might require surgeries, such as gum tissue or bone grafts.
If your gums bleed when your brush or floss, or if you notice your gums are red, swollen or painful, please tell us right away at your next appointment. But keep in mind that many people who have the early stages of gum disease experience no obvious symptoms or pain.
Please note that there is no cure for gum disease. Once you have gum disease it can be treated & managed, but not cured. This makes prevention & early detection of the disease vital to keeping your mouth as healthy as possible.
Dentists & hygienists are trained to detect the signs of gum disease. That’s why controlling gum disease through regular cleanings is such a good way to take care of your teeth—& your overall health!
As dental professionals we often feel like a broken record (or a scratched CD, depending on your generation) telling patients that they need to floss more. We don’t mean to be nags, we just want you to have the healthiest, happiest smile possible!
While brushing cleans the front, back & chewing surfaces of your teeth, flossing is the only way to properly clean the spaces between your teeth (what dental pros call the inter-proximal region). Even if you’re a teeth brushing superstar, you’re not cleaning your entire tooth if you don’t floss.
Here are just a few of the problems you will avoid by flossing daily:
The same micro-organism filled plaque that accumulates on the front & back of your teeth can accumulate between them. This bacteria-ridden buildup can cause cavities & tooth decay if it isn’t cleaned away by flossing.
The bacteria in plaque left between your teeth can also eventually lead to bad breath. So if you brush & use mouthwash & still find yourself with bad breath, not flossing may be the culprit.
Plaque that is left on your teeth can eventually harden into a substance called tartar, which can lead to gum disease. You can prevent the development of tartar by flossing, but once tartar has formed, only scaling & cleaning at the dentist can remove it.
Poor dental hygiene has been linked to both heart disease & aggravation of symptoms for those with diabetes. Remember that your mouth is an entry point for your entire body, so keeping your teeth healthy by brushing & flossing can prevent disease-causing pathogens from getting in.
If you feel you need a reminder of the best way to floss, your dentist or dental hygienist will always be happy to give you a demonstration at your next visit. You may also be more likely to floss if you find the right type of floss for your mouth. Try different types, such as unwaxed, waxed or tape floss, or floss on a pick tool, until you find what feels the most comfortable for you.
We know it can be difficult to get in the habit of flossing regularly. After all, your mouth can feel pretty fresh after just brushing, enough to fool you into thinking it’s totally clean and safe from tooth decay or gum disease. But flossing regularly is the only way to make sure you actually clean your teeth completely. Here are a few misconceptions we want to dispel to help motivate your flossing habits!
We know there are some people out there who only whip out the floss after eating popcorn or corn on the cob. Of course floss is great for removing the remnants of rogue kernels, but it’s not just large obvious bits of food you have to worry about. Floss also helps remove plaque that accumulates between your teeth, creating the risk for cavities even if you don’t have food stuck there. If you floss regularly, you already know how surprising it is the amount of stuff you can clean out from between your teeth even if you didn’t sink them into anything particularly messy that day.
There are plenty of adults who have yet to make a solid habit of flossing. In many cases, these adults still have all their teeth and haven’t had any problems with interproximal caries (tooth decay that happens between your teeth). But just because someone has gotten this far without feeling the need to floss doesn’t mean they shouldn’t start! For one thing, the early signs of dental disease such as gum disease (periodontitis) don’t have obvious symptoms. Bleeding gums is one of the first signs you may be developing gum disease, but even if you teeth don’t bleed when you brush that doesn’t mean you’re not at risk. Start flossing now and you still may have all your own teeth for the rest of your life!
This is a choice of words problem: Many people hear that your gums bleeding when you floss is common, and misunderstand that fact to mean that it’s normal. Yes, many people see blood when they floss, but no, it’s not normal. No matter what, that spot of red is telling you something about your oral health, specifically the health of your gums. If this is a problem you encounter every time you floss, talk to us about it so we can assess the issue and have a plan for preserving your health.
