How serious is a gum recession?

How serious is a gum recession?

August 28, 2019  | IN PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Have you noticed your gums bleeding, or are they swollen and red? Perhaps you have noticed nothing out of the ordinary and feel no pain in your mouth. In either case, you could have the start of periodontal disease, also known as gum disease or gum recession.

Gingivitis, swollen and bleeding gums, is the early stage of far more serious oral health issues involving gums pulling away from teeth, lost teeth, and bone loss. Tooth decay and gum recession are the most concerning threats to adult dental health.

Gum recession defined

We are taught from an early age to always brush our teeth, but do you remember lessons on the importance of caring for our gums? We can’t have healthy teeth without healthy gums, and diligent oral care is the best way to keep gum recession at bay. Once a gum recession gets started, it can lead to much more dire consequences.

Gum recession is the acute inflammation of the tissue that surrounds and supports our teeth. It is a common affliction that often appears mildly as gingivitis, which consists of bacterial infections causing the buildup of plaque and tartar, and eventually inflamed gums. In the grand oral health scheme, gingivitis is usually painless and treatable but left to its own devices can turn into significant tissue damage, loose or lost teeth, and even deterioration or loss of bone structure.   

Gum recession—a critical oral health concern

Gum recession is a very determined affliction, progressing slowly but steadily and beginning as merely a nuisance. While it’s true that beet red gums, swollen and streaked with blood, certainly don’t look the best, the more serious issue is what comes next.

Receding gums expose the roots of our teeth, which are naturally designed to live below the gum line. Tooth roots are not protected with a layer of enamel. They are instead covered in cementum, which, when exposed, quickly decays and is a fast track to cavities and sensitivity to hot, cold, and anything sweet. Even worse, teeth are likely to fall out without a strong foundation.

What’s to blame for gum disease?

We all eat several times a day, and pieces of that food inevitably get stuck in the paper-thin space where our teeth meet our gums. This location is below the gum line, and it takes regular brushing and flossing to adequately remove wayward food chunks and hold back the bacteria that form and cover our teeth in plaque. When plaque becomes well established, it turns into tartar, and the presence of tartar below the gum line is bad, causing the swelling above and bleeding.

It is possible to slow and reverse this process with a proper brushing and flossing regime, but receding gums can evolve into serious forms of periodontitis if left unchecked.

Advanced stages of plaque become tartar, and if tartar evolves below the gum line, the gums turn red, swell, and often bleed. The condition can typically be reversed with brushing and flossing but, if not treated properly, can move to more serious periodontitis in which the gums pull away from the teeth and develop pockets. Pockets in gums are prime locations for infection, and in the heart of your immune system’s fight against the issue, some bacteria might sneak away and inflict further damage to surrounding soft tissue and bones. This, in turn, can lead to tooth or bone loss.

Causes of gum recession

What is the cause of all this oral mayhem? Gum recession results from many different factors, and understanding is the key to preventing the condition from taking hold or controlling it when it starts. Unfortunately, some people will succumb to gum recession regardless of their responsible oral care but staying aware of common risk factors goes a long way in staying ahead of the game.

Early detection and sound oral health habits are your most effective strategy to control and treat gum recession. There are many warning indicators for gum recession; pay attention to them, and you can dodge unpleasant outcomes. In the meantime, brush and floss twice a day and see your dentist regularly.  

For more information on gum recession, contact Star White Dental at (951) 291-0668 or starwhitedental.com.

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