Optimise Your Gum Health

Looking after your gums not only avoids uncomfortable symptoms, but helps to protect your teeth as well.
When we get up in the morning and go to bed at night, one of the first and last things that we do is to brush our teeth. Even the phrase ‘brush our teeth’ gives a clue to something that some of us may be ignoring. While brushing out teeth is important, it is also essential that we look after the health of our gums as well. As we will see, failure to do so can lead to some very unpleasant side effects and can even threaten the survival of our teeth.
While this all may sound a little ominous, the good news is that maintaining healthy gums isn’t actually that hard to do, but neglecting to do just a few simple things can lead to a wide range of gum problems, from relatively minor to very significant.
What is gum disease?
Gum disease is caused by an increase in bacteria around the gum line. This starts off as plaque, that sticky gooey substance that you may have noticed if you have ever woken up with a dry mouth. This particular form is more noticeable than the finer film that coats the teeth every day. By and large, it is relatively harmless if removed regularly with good quality brushing and flossing. If the plaque is allowed to develop though, it can harden, and, along with other minerals, form a hard ‘crust’ known as tartar or calculus. When this develops it can cause inflammation of the gums and you may develop problems like bleeding gums, bad breath and soreness when eating. This stage is usually known as gingivitis.
Gingivitis can usually be reversed and managed relatively simply and we will come to that shortly. If neglected though, the bacteria can make their way down to the roots of the tooth and start to damage the bone that holds our teeth securely in place. When this happens, the bone can start to thin and become damaged, losing its grip on our teeth. Eventually, wobbly or even lost teeth are quite possible.
If all that sounds a little scary, then let us take a look at what patients of our Canterbury dental clinic can do to avoid it, or treat it where necessary.
Avoiding gum disease
A diet that is high in sugar provides food for the potentially harmful bacteria that live in our mouths. Not only can these produce acids that damage tooth enamel, but they also attack the gums. The fewer of these bacteria we have the better, so eating a well balanced diet that is low in sugar will help to deprive them of the food that they need.
If you smoke or drink alcohol regularly or in excess, then you are putting yourself at a higher risk than most people. The chemicals in tobacco smoke can irritate the gums and slow down any healing, but both of these also cause a dry mouth. This provides the ideal breeding ground for bacteria and is why, after a night out drinking, you are likely to notice an excess of plaque in your mouth the next morning. Quitting smoking and excess alcohol consumption is an excellent way of reducing your risk of gum disease. Making sure that you stay well hydrated by drinking enough water is important both for smokers and the rest of us as this will help to avoid a dry mouth and also wash away some of the bacteria.
Finally, let us take a look at how you can improve your oral care at home in order to improve the health of your gums.
First of all, check your toothbrush. Are the bristles looking worn? If so, you should replace your brush or brush head if electric, so that the bristles are firm enough to clean your teeth and gums properly. You should do this approximately every three months.
Secondly, when you brush your teeth, don’t just ‘flat brush’ the surface of the teeth but angle the bristles down towards the gum line. This will help to remove food debris and bacteria from the gum pockets.
Finally, add dental floss to your daily oral health care routine. This is an excellent way of removing food and bacteria that gets trapped in places between your teeth that a toothbrush often can’t reach. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet that show you how to do this correctly, but you can also ask your dentist or dental hygienist to show you how to do it properly next time you come for an appointment at Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic.
How can we help you?
In addition to all of the above, there is one more step that you should take to ensure that your gums remain healthy and that is to have them cleaned professionally by your local dental hygienist every six months, or possibly more frequently if you are at a higher risk such as smokers or diabetics.
Our hygienist can discuss your oral health care and any lifestyle habits that might be affecting you and discuss with you, ways that you can improve this, such as improving how you floss or suggesting a more appropriate toothpaste for example. In addition to this, they will carry out a non-invasive procedure known as a ‘scale and polish’. This is an excellent way of giving your teeth and gum line a thorough clean and removing the tartar that can’t be removed with regular brushing.
The first step is to manually ‘scrape away’ the bulk of the tartar using a hooked implement. This is not painful but you might feel a pulling sensation during this stage.
The next step uses a sonic tool which shatters most of the remaining tartar and removes it from the teeth and gum line.
Finally, your teeth and gum line will be given a brushing using a special brush that also helps to remove some surface staining from the teeth as well.
Once this has been done, we think you will be pleasantly surprised how clean your teeth look and feel. In addition to this, you can leave the practice in the knowledge that you have contributed to a really healthy mouth. Naturally, plaque and tartar will build up again over time so it is important that you have this done every six months or so.
We hope that this advice helps you to improve your daily oral health care and avoid the unpleasantness of gum disease. If you don’t already have regular appointments with the hygienist at our Canterbury practice, we recommend that you book one as soon as you can. You can do this by calling Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic today on 01227 463529.