Gingivitis – Are Your Gums Trying to Tell You Something?

 

Gingivitis – very simply – is an inflammation of your gums. (Any time a medical term ends with “itis” it means inflammation.) Gingivitis varies in severity and can look a few different ways. Very bad gingivitis leads to periodontal (gum) disease. Gingivitis is common and affects many, rather, most adults. But with good oral hygiene and the care of a professional Plantation dentist, you should be able to avoid any major problems and even prevent gingivitis before it begins!

Dr. Rizvi talks more below about what causes gingivitis, how to prevent it, and how to treat it if it happens to you!

Causes of Gingivitis

Plaque forms on your teeth and near your gums after you eat and drink. Regular brushing and flossing cleans your teeth and removes this plaque. But if you go too long without brushing and flossing, or you don’t do it well enough, the plaque can really build up and even harden in your mouth. At this point, the plaque becomes tartar that can only be removed by a dental professional.

Gingivitis happens because:

  • Tartar builds up on the line where your teeth and gums meet, it sticks and hardens to your soft gum tissue.
  • Tartar irritates your gums and makes them more sensitive to oral bacteria that normally aren’t a problem.
  • Your gums inflame in order to fight the bacteria and tartar.
  • Inflammation causes gums to bleed easily during brushing and flossing.

Effects of Gingivitis

In most cases, gingivitis just means slightly swollen and sore gums. If this happens, call your dentist and definitely keep brushing your teeth. Try brushing lightly and using a soft toothbrush if your mouth is very sensitive.

If your symptoms don’t go away, gingivitis can cause:

  • Red, swollen gums
  • Gums bleed easily
  • Bad breath or taste
  • Sensitive or painful gums
  • Gums pull away from teeth and form pockets around teeth
  • Tooth loss caused by periodontitis

Preventing Gingivitis

Good oral hygiene is important for everyone and can do a lot to keep you and your mouth healthy. Still, some risk factors make you more likely to develop gingivitis:

  • Smoking
  • Hormonal changes in women
  • Diabetes
  • Diseases that lower your immune system
  • Dry mouth (sometimes caused by prescription medication)
  • Genetics
  • Being a male over 30 years old

Treating Gingivitis

As always, brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day is the best way to care for your teeth and gums. Flossing or cleaning between your teeth once a day is also very important. Make sure you curve the floss in a C-shape, around the tooth, and under the gumline.

Next, be sure to get regular dental care from our team at My Dentist for Life – about two visits per year is considered typical. If you have gingivitis or gum disease, Dr. Rizvi will help remove tartar, control the infection, and might advise you to change some personal hygiene habits.  More advanced cases of gum disease may require more extensive treatment methods.

If you’re looking for a Plantation dentist to help you feel your best, Dr. Rizvi is taking new patients. Contact us to make an appointment with My Dentist for Life today!

Sources

https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealth/Topics/GumDiseases/PeriodontalGumDisease.htm



from My Dentist for Life http://www.mydentistforlife.com/gingivitis-gums-trying-tell-something/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Image
If you’re the parent of a young child, you know their brains are similar to sponges that soak up everything around them—especially in their first five years, which neuroscientists say is when they’ll do the most learning and developing in their entire life. At this formative time, your child may amaze you with what they notice: your facial expressions, the different tones of your voice, and your habits. If your habits include regular dental visits and an excellent oral hygiene routine, they’ll notice and want to emulate you. If you happen to feel anxious about your dental visits, or you groan when you’ve got to floss and brush, they may synchronize and feel your dread. This could lead to dental fears that stick with them for years—potentially a lifetime! Kids Can Be Courageous If you’re feeling guilty right now, go ahead and put that away as it won’t serve you or your little one. Everyone has some room for improvement, and Coastal Pediatric Dentistry® is here to help show you an...
Read more

Going for the Gold?

Image
On the left is the older allow, on the right the new one that my lab has chosen to use The cost of a penny weight of pure gold is currently $79.53. The cost of a penny weight of pure palladium is $130.6. It used to be that palladium was added instead of gold to the precious metals often used for pfms, but now laboratories are finding that palladium is no longer affordable. The lab that I am using has just changed the formulation of the metal it's using to one that has more gold than palladium. I really do not mind, but metals with more gold are softer and often easier for a dentist to accidentally polish off delicate margins. It is important when polishing "higher gold" formulations to exert less hand pressure when performing the final polishing of the crown's margins. Other wise there should be no problem with this change. Traditionally labs have chosen alloys with higher gold percentages for optimal esthetics, since alloys with higher concentrations of ...
Read more

Lemon Juice – The Good, the Bad, & the Sour

Image
In a great tale of opposites, lemon juice can be both acidic and basic, or alkaline. Read on to find out why people are talking about this, and what it means for your oral and overall health . What is pH and why does it matter? Drinking lemon juice (usually diluted in a glass of water or added to a cup of tea) is a beloved health tonic among fans of natural medicine. Potential benefits include lower cholesterol, lower inflammation in the body, and increased metabolism and energy. Lemon also contains high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C that boost your immune system. On a scale from 0-14, a pH of 7 is neutral (pure water) while numbers below 7 are acidic (unhealthy), and above 7 are basic or alkaline (healthy). Believers in holistic health blame many ailments on the body’s pH being too low or too acidic. Increasing your body’s pH is called “alkalizing.” Lemon juice in its natural state is acidic with a pH of about 2, but once metabolized it actually becomes alkaline with a pH ...
Read more