Gum disease is one of the most chronic oral health conditions that causes receding gums. When your gums recede, they have a higher chance of falling out, especially if that recession is severe. What can you do? You can start out early by keeping your gums healthy through proper oral hygiene practices. Your gum health is just as important as keeping your teeth healthy, as the gums help hold the teeth in place. Over 64 million people in the United States suffer from gum disease and receding gums. If you notice that your gums are starting to recede, we have services such as root planing and scaling that can help correct your smile and clean gingival (gum) tissue that is present. You have options for healing your gums. Find out what those are today and how you can avoid problems with your gums.

Gum Disease Is Painless

When you think of diseases, you might think that the symptoms would be obvious, such as pain. However, gum disease is painless. What is this disease and how do you know if you have it? Gum disease starts in stages, as do most other conditions. The first stage is gingivitis. You may have heard this word before but not associated it with gum disease. Gingivitis is when the gums become red, irritated and swollen. This is due to poor oral hygiene, or not cleaning plaque from the teeth often enough. Plaque is a sticky acidic substance that is made from bacteria in your mouth mixed with sugars in the foods you eat. This plaque sticks to the teeth, causing tooth decay. However, it also irritates the gums as well, hence you get gingivitis.

What Comes Next?

Gingivitis is gum disease, just in its starting stage. If patients let their oral health decline, the gums will start to recede from the teeth. This is known as gingival recession. Colgate tells us it’s called this because the roots of the teeth become exposed as the gums pull away from the teeth. Gum disease takes time to develop, so patients might not notice their gums receding until it has already happened. Patients may also notice that their gumline is much more sensitive to hot and cold foods, acidic foods, and even eating. This is a sign that something is wrong with your oral health.

How Prevalent Is Gum Disease?

Receding gums are the #1 characteristic of gum disease. This recession is painless until patients start to feel tooth sensitivity or experience tooth loss. The later, more severe stage of gum disease is tooth loss. This tooth loss begins with one tooth and then other teeth start to fall out as well. In essence, a domino effect occurs. Gum disease is known as periodontitis in the stage where receding gums is common.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 64.7 million American adults have gum disease in various stages. 8.7% of those adults have mild periodontitis, 30% have moderate periodontitis, and 8.5% have severe periodontitis with receding gums and tooth loss. The more you let gum disease progress, the harder it is to stop receding gums and tooth loss. This is because the jawbone and surrounding gums become too weak to hold teeth in place and to support dental implants.

What to Do About Receding Gums

So what can you do? You always want to monitor your oral health, especially looking for changes in how your gums and teeth look and feel. Prevention is key when it comes to gum disease or any other oral health issue. Plaque is what causes periodontitis and tooth decay. That’s why it’s so important to brush your teeth several times a day and to floss the teeth each and every day as well. Visiting your dentist at least twice a year, if not every 3 months, is also key to spotting the signs of receding gums and other oral health issues. For patients who follow these preventative steps, they won’t have to worry about receding gums, tooth loss, tooth decay, etc.

Treatments for Gum Disease

However, as we stated, over 64.7 million American adults have gum disease already, and many are in the moderate and severe stages of the disease. For these patients, we have periodontal treatments such as deep cleaning and planing and root scaling. Scaling and root planing are intended to provide a healthy tissue environment in which tissues readapt to normal tooth surfaces. In periodontal disease, gingival tissue may detach (pull away) from the teeth, and periodontal pockets form.

After a thorough cleaning of the tooth surface has been completed above and below the gum line, the root of the tooth undergoes a process called planing. We smooth the root of the tooth so that any tartar on the teeth is removed. We clear away rough areas below the gum line where bacteria sits and reduce the size of gum tissue pockets that can abscess. Scaling involves scraping and removing plaque and calculus (tartar) from the tooth as well. We remove this from the crown of the tooth and even below the gumline if needed. In very advanced cases of periodontitis, flap surgery or gingivectomy may be necessary to allow the doctor free access to the infected tooth root.

Your Healthy Mouth

No one has to lose their teeth to gum disease. You don’t ever have to experience receding gums either! Keep your teeth clean on a daily basis to avoid problems with your gums. If you already have gum disease, remember that it is not “cured”, only maintained. Don’t lose your smile when you don’t have to. Let Dr. Bockrath restore your smile to its original state as best as possible. If you have noticed changes in the appearance of your gums or teeth, call our Mountain Aire Dentistry office at (303) 731-7755 and receive help today!