Most of us will have experienced problems with our gums at some point, whether they have been swollen, sore or sometimes bleed a little when we brush our teeth. A lot of people think this is nothing to worry about, despite some of the dramatic TV commercials you may have seen telling you otherwise! So just how serious is gum disease and why is it important to get it sorted?
Gum disease is actually very common and it is the leading cause of tooth loss amongst adults. It tends to develop very slowly and if you manage it properly, you should be able to slow it down to a rate that will enable you to keep most (or all) of your teeth for the rest of your life.
Types of gum disease
There are two main types of gum disease: Gingivitis and Periodontal disease. If you have Gingivitis your gums may be inflamed, the gum area surrounding your teeth may be red and swollen and quite often your gums will bleed when you are brushing them.
Periodontal disease is more serious than Gingivitis and if you have suffered from Gingivitis for some time, it can go on to develop into Periodontal disease. This can take several forms, all of which affect the tissues supporting your teeth, and as the disease progresses, you may experience bone loss, meaning there is nothing to anchor your teeth in your jaw and they will become loose. If this is left untreated, your teeth may fall out.
The causes of gum disease
The primary cause of gum disease is plaque, also known as biofilm. This is a creamy-yellowish coloured layer of bacteria that forms on the surface of your teeth every single day. Our mouths are home to around 700 different species of bacteria, most of which are harmless, however some of those bacteria are not so nice, and these are the ones that cause gum disease. Which is why it is really important to have a good oral health routine in place in order to prevent gum disease or at least stop it from becoming a problem.
Creating healthy habits
If you want to prevent or treat gum disease, brush your teeth at least twice a day and use interdental brushes or floss to get at the spaces in between your teeth. Visit your dentist regularly and make regular hygienist appointments too. It can be nigh-on impossible to remove every bit of biofilm on your teeth but here at the Wellesley we are lucky enough to have our fantastic Airflow Machine. This uses a process called Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT) to thoroughly remove the plaque on your teeth and gums and give you a fighting chance of keeping gum disease at bay. The machine works by projecting a high pressure stream of air, body temperature water and a fine coloured powder onto your teeth, enabling our hygienist to gently remove plaque, stains and discolouration, painlessly and systematically. Our machine also offers a Perioflow treatment for patients who may be suffering with Periodontal disease, by gently deep cleaning and polishing at the root which helps gums to heal more quickly.
If your gums are bleeding and you are concerned about this, ask your dentist for some advice. There are some good products on the market for treating and preventing Gingivitis, including mouthwashes, but by following a regular dental health routine you have the best chance of keeping your gums healthy and hanging on to all of your teeth for as long as possible.
Whist making a resolution to stick to some healthier habits and routines, you might also want to consider ditching some unhealthy ones too. Smoking in particular, is really bad for your gums. If you smoke you will naturally produce more plaque and it decreases the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, which means that f your gums become infected, they will not heal.
Why you need to check your gum health
In a lot of cases gum disease goes untreated because it does not cause the kind of immediate pain that our teeth do when something is wrong. You might shrug off a little bit of blood when you brush your teeth as ‘normal’ but as there is no pain you might not realise that your gum disease is getting progressively worse and causing a lot of damage. Sometimes the bacteria will make your gums sore and you could develop abscesses in your gum line. If you leave it too long then it can become more difficult to treat. If you are suffering from bone loss, your dentist can pick this up with an X-Ray and advise you on the best course of treatment.
There is no cure for Periodontal disease once you have it, but it can be kept under control as long as you manage it well, with help from our dentist and hygienist. Further bone loss can be prevented and may stop completely but you will need to brush thoroughly at least twice a day.
Gum disease and other health conditions
More research is emerging about the impact of gum disease on our overall health and wellbeing. It is possible for the bacteria from your gums to enter your blood stream and cause diseases in other areas of your body. Gum disease has been linked to other conditions including diabetes, strokes, cardiovascular disease and alzheimers/dementia although more research is needed in order to understand how this happens, scientists have made definite links between the these illnesses and gum disease:
- A study from Harvard University found that people with periodontal disease are two to three times more at risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event.
- People with type 2 diabetes are around three times more likely to develop dental problems than people who don’t have diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes are also more at risk.
- One study found that people with gum disease were three times more likely to have a stroke involving blood vessels in the back of the brain, which controls vision, coordination, and other vital bodily functions.
- A large study in 2020 linked gum disease with dementia. Bacteria and the inflammatory molecules they make can travel from infections in the mouth through the bloodstream to the brain and previous lab studies have suggested that this is one mechanism influencing the cascade of events that leads to dementia.
We hope all this information has scared you into brushing your teeth regularly! It certainly makes our job a lot easier if you do! If you do have gum disease it is probably not too late to do something about it and work on getting into a better habit with your oral health routine. If you feel like you’re doing a lot already, ask yourself, is there anything extra you can do? Perhaps buying some interdental brushes or some mouthwash to keep your gums healthy between brushing? If you haven’t tried our Airflow machine yet then we can wholeheartedly recommend it. All of our patients that have tried Guided Biofilm Therapy absolutely love it and we’ve been getting some rave reviews on Google about it too. If you have concerns about bleeding gums, always mention them to your dental team. Nothing is too trivial and we will always be happy to give you some pointers to manage your teeth and gums a little better. Hopefully you will be glad that you asked!
