Your teeth need strong, healthy gums to keep them firmly in their sockets, so it’s a problem if they start to recede as your teeth may loosen and eventually fall out. Receding gums also create unsightly gaps between the teeth and gums, which can trap food and bacteria, increasing the risk of infection and oral disease. Unfortunately, gum recession in Oshawa is a very common problem, especially among older adults. Often, it is a preventable problem. Below are some of the reasons why gums can begin to recede.
Overzealous Tooth Brushing
It’s easy to think that scrubbing your teeth harder will get them cleaner, but this isn’t true. Brushing your teeth too aggressively can damage your tooth enamel and gum tissue. The same thing can occur if you use a hard-bristled toothbrush. You only need a soft-bristled toothbrush and use gentle circular motions to clean your teeth thoroughly.
Teeth Grinding and Clenching
Teeth grinding, a problem called bruxism in Whitby, is often nocturnal. However, it can place your teeth and gums under considerable pressure, wearing down your teeth and causing your gums to recede. Common signs of bruxism include waking up with an aching jaw or toothache, noticing your teeth have become shorter or transparent at the edges, or developing a chronic headache.
When you visit Margolian Dentistry for regular checkups, we can easily identify any signs of bruxism and provide suitable treatment. The recommended treatment may involve other health care practitioners, especially if this problem has affected your jaw joints, called temporomandibular joints. One straightforward way to treat this problem is with a custom-made night splint that prevents your teeth from being in contact during sleep, and sometimes, this may be enough to break the habit.
Poor Dental Care
Perhaps the most common reason for gum recession is poor oral health. Failing to brush and floss your teeth regularly will enable the bacteria in dental plaque, a sticky biofilm that continually forms on your teeth, to multiply and thrive. Plaque bacteria feast on leftover food particles, producing toxins that infect and inflame your gums, resulting in gum recession and gum disease in Ajax.
Gum disease is one of the most common causes of tooth loss worldwide, but it is easily treatable when detected quickly. If you notice your gums have started to bleed when you brush or floss or at other times or that your teeth look longer than you remember, please don’t hesitate to contact us immediately so we can provide appropriate care.
A professional dental cleaning is one way to treat early gum disease. A dental cleaning removes hardened plaque bacteria, eliminating the source of the infection and inflammation so your gums can recover and heal more easily. Combined with an improved oral care routine, this may be enough to eliminate gum disease completely. However, if your gums have receded significantly and you have signs of advanced gum disease, you may need ongoing professional dental care to help control this condition. Advanced gum disease, called periodontitis, can become chronic, so that you would need more frequent oral hygiene appointments and possibly more advanced periodontal treatments.
Preventing Gum Recession
The simplest way to prevent gum recession is with good ongoing oral care that includes brushing your teeth at least twice daily, flossing once daily, and seeing us regularly for checkups and hygiene appointments. If you develop any early signs of gum disease, we can detect and treat this condition promptly, hopefully avoiding any permanent signs of gum recession while protecting your dental health. In the longer term, it’s cost-effective, and with regular oral care, you can feel confident that your teeth and gums are in great shape.
