Gum Health
The tissue is the issue
Your teeth’s foundations
Often an underrated part of dental health, your gums are the foundation of your teeth and can be a reflection of your overall health.
Bleeding when brushing is a sign to have your gums checked by your dentist. If your gums bleed when brushing this could be an indication that you have one of two types of gum disease; gingivitis or periodontitis.
Gingivitis is the start of gum disease and is caused by bacterial accumulation around your teeth. This leads to your gums becoming inflamed, tender and causes bleeding. If caught early, gingivitis is reversible and can be treated effectively by your dentist.
Periodontitis is more serious and results from untreated gum disease. This can lead to wobbling of teeth due to lack of support, infection, bleeding and can ultimately be debilitating. It is essential to see your dentist to ensure that it can be controlled. There has been research that links poor gum health to other systemic conditions such as heart disease.
If you feel that you have any of these symptoms, its best to make an appointment so that we can assess your gum health and carry out treatment to bring your gums back to an optimal state.
What to expect
We assess your gum health as part of your routine check up. Apart from checking your x-rays to make sure bone levels are normal, we taking multiple measurements including the recession, how strongly the gums are attached to the teeth roots, gum thickness and any pathology.
Gum treatment typically depends on the severity of the disease we are dealing with. For comfort, local anesthetic gel and injections can be applied, a very thorough debridement ensues while you watch your favorite show on Netflix. An antiseptic mouthwash may be prescribed.
In more severe cases of gum disease, the treatment may need to be done over 2 or 3 sessions, and repeated every 3 months. You may be sent home with some homework – and as always, the more you do, the less we do!
