What Causes Gum Recession?
The soft tissues enveloping your teeth play a crucial role in fitting snugly and safeguarding the more exposed components, such as the root. When your gums begin to recede, it creates a gateway to potential dental issues, including infection and irritation. But what triggers this recession in the first place? Explore natural methods to Regrow Gums and address the underlying causes, promoting optimal oral health.
- Poor oral health: When bacteria develop plaque (biofilm), it seems to grow up between the teeth and gums. That’s why the gums covering the teeth can become swollen. If it can’t be treated, this infection can deteriorate the gums and strengthen the bone structure. It can cause gum recession and periodontal disease, and acute gum infection. If you don’t keep your teeth clean with regular brushing and flossing, plaque can grow up. It isn’t pushed. It can lead to gum disorder and gum recession.
- Overly aggressive brushing or flossing: It’s exceptional to be concerned about oral care! But make sure you’re smoothly brushing your teeth and not rubbing hard. Over-brushing can take away the enamel of your teeth and cause erosion and receding gums.
- Genetics: Sometimes, dental issues are slightly out of our control. If either of your parents has experienced a gum recession, you may be at a higher risk.
- Abnormal tooth positioning: posing teeth that aren’t in arrangement or a misaligned bite can generate undue friction on the area, making your gums recede.
- Clenching and Grinding the teeth is also known as bruxism; this addiction can cause many dental problems, including gum recession. Like irregular tooth positioning, the extra force used can wear down your gums.
- Hormonal changes: Women can go through different stages of dramatic hormone changes in their lifetime, like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. Unfortunately, these natural life conditions can cause a woman to be more sensitive to gum disease and recession.
- Trauma to gum tissue: Gum tissue may recede when traumatic damage has happened. A recession can seem at the position of the damage or close to it.
- Using tobacco: Smoking and tobacco use raise your risk for receding gums by improving the likelihood of many dental problems for several reasons, including its weakening of the immune system and inhibiting saliva flow, which provides for more plaque to form up.
Gum Disease Diagnosis and Treatment:
To determine whether gum disease is the cause of your gum recession, your dentist will use a probe to measure the depth of your gum pockets. Healthy pocket sizes should be between 1-3 millimeters, and anything larger indicates gum disease. If your gums have retreated owing to periodontal disease, a scale and root planing procedure may be able to prevent further recession. This easy treatment involves removing plaque and bacteria from the surfaces of your teeth and behind the gumline.
Once extracted, the root of your mouth is softened, which inhibits the growth of additional bacteria and allows your gums to heal. For more serious cases of gum recession, surgical procedures such as flap surgery or a gum graft may be required. Flap surgery treats gum disease by raising the gums to identify and remove bacteria and tartar accumulation that the scale and root planing operation could not reach, then sewing the gums shut and allowing them to heal.
While this is an effective way for treating advanced gum disease, it has no effect on the appearance of your teeth being lengthened. A gum graft treatment will be required to correct this. During the procedure, the grafting material is applied to the area of recession.
This transplant can be acquired from your mouth’s roof, donor tissue, or an artificial source.Although gum grafting will restore your natural healthy gum line, you should be aware that you will still need to practice proper oral care to keep your gums from receding in the future.
Can Receding Gums Regrow?
The simple answer is no. Receding gums cannot be reversed if your gums are damaged by periodontitis, the most severe form of gum disease. Even when receding gums cannot be converted, various procedures can prevent the problem from worsening.
How Could I Know If I Have Been Affected with Receding Gums?
You may be able to identify a few signs that indicate gum disease or gum recession. It happens when your gums pull back from your teeth, exposing the root beneath, and the first thing you may think about is prolonged dental sensitivity. Although you may see these signs, it is not always easy to detect if you already have receding gums.
The ideal option is to have regular checks with your dentist, as a specialist can detect and treat gum problems. It is critical to receding gums since obtaining experience as quickly as possible is the most dependable technique to keep them from worsening.
How Can I Get Rid of Receding Gum?
If you want to know if you have receding gums or if you fear you possess receding gums, the most straightforward approach is to arrange an appointment with your dentist and obtain professional advice on avoiding receding gums.
There are numerous receding gum treatments available, including:
Root Planing and Scaling:
If you have gum recession, your doctor might recommend scaling and root planning. Your dentist will perform a two-part procedure. All plaque and hard tartar above and below the gum line (the point at which the gum meets the tooth) is removed.
Then, your dentist will perform root planing, which involves smoothing out the roots of your teeth to facilitate the gums’ reattachment to the tooth. Your dentist may recommend a local anesthetic during the treatment, which may necessitate more than one consultation. It is usual for your gums to feel red, swollen, and irritated after treatment, as well as to have increased sensitivity.
Your dentist may recommend a brief course of antimicrobial mouthwash, such as Corsodyl 0.2 percent Mouthwash, to help reduce bacteria and prevent illness. Scaling and planing are frequently sufficient to fix the situation. Still, you will need regular exams to ensure that your receding gums have altered and are not becoming more critical. It’s also critical to maintaining a decent dental health practice to keep your gums healthy.
Gum Surgery to Maintain Healthy Gums:
Your dentist may recommend gum surgery for more complex situations of receding gums. There are several varieties, including:
Scaling and planning of open flaps:
If non-surgical treatment has failed, your dentist may recommend open flap scaling and planing, which involves closing back the wounded gum tissue to create a better channel for cleaning and smoothing the roots. The gum is then snugly reattached, making it easier to keep clean and healthy.
Regeneration is a medical procedure that helps restore bone and gum tissue. To remove bacteria and plaque, your dentist will clean above and below the gum line. Then, a regenerative material – a film, tissue-stimulating protein, or graft tissue – will be used to help your body naturally heal the broken bone and tissue. The gum is then properly reattached over the tooth’s origin.
Gum Grafting:
If your gum tissue has already been damaged, your dentist may advise you to undergo soft tissue or gum transplant surgery. It is the process of grafting tissue from the surrounding gums or the top of your mouth and joining it to the gums to meet the exposed root of your teeth.
What Can I Do to Keep My Gums Healthy?
The best defense against receding gums is regular dental checkups and a healthy oral health routine. Brushing for 2 minutes, twice a day, using fluoride toothpaste or a daily specialist gum health toothpaste, such as Corsodyl, helps remove plaque bacteria and keeps your teeth and gums clean.
Precautions for Maintaining Healthy Gums:
Your dentist and dental hygienist will also advise you on the best way to prevent additional gum recession. They may advise you to change your dental hygiene habits, quit smoking, or wear a mouthguard at night to protect your teeth when you grind or clench. Gingival recession can also be prevented by practicing good oral hygiene.
To protect your enamel and gums, use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a precise brushing method. It will not modify the current recession, but it is part of an oral hygiene regimen that can reduce the likelihood of it deteriorating.
If receding gums are caused by other issues, such as crooked teeth or a misaligned bite, speak with your dentist about explaining the underlying issue to help halt or even prevent the recession. Orthodontics may be the solution if your teeth are out of alignment. We recognize that experiencing gum inflammation or discovering blood in the sink after brushing your teeth might be dangerous. That’s perfectly typical!
Nobody wants to be the cause of an oral health problem that could have been avoided. But don’t put off seeing a dentist for a consultation and treatment for your gum recession. While you can’t change it, there are various ways to deal with gum recession that are dependent on a dental professional’s assessment of the core cause. Maintain your finest oral care regimen, talk to your dentist about your gum recession concerns, and before you know it, your gum recession will be a thing of the past!
Can I regrow Gums That Have Been Damaged?
The gums cannot regrow after they have fallen. Some techniques, however, can repair and rebuild gum tissue surrounding the teeth. Having good oral hygiene regularly can help to stop, slow, or avoid gum recession.
Can I Reverse Unhealthy Gums?
Reversing Gum Disease Periodontitis can’t be modified, only slowed down, while gingivitis can be reversed. It is why it’s essential to catch it in its initial stages and stop it from moving on to periodontitis.
Methods for Keeping Your Gum Firmly in Place:
While gum recession can develop as a result of aging, there are steps you can take to reduce the need for combination treatment in the future.
These are some examples:
- Brush your teeth for two minutes in the morning and at night with a soft-bristled toothbrush.
- To avoid injuring your soft tissues, use the right flossing technique.
- Wear a mouthguard at night to keep your teeth from grinding.
- Seeking cessation assistance in order to quit smoking.
- To open packages, avoid using your teeth as a tool.
- Cleaning using an antibacterial mouthwash designed to combat gum disease
- Visit your doctor on a regular basis for a checkup.
Gum recession is one of the negative effects of periodontal disease. These basic tips will keep your gums where they should be for the rest of your life if you want to ensure the health and durability of your smile.
Jacquelyn Briner is a passionate advocate for dental health, dedicated to sharing valuable insights and expert advice through her engaging articles. As the driving force behind Dental-Scaler, Jacquelyn strives to empower readers with the knowledge they need to maintain optimal oral well-being. Explore the world of dentistry with Jacquelyn at https://dental-scaler.com/ and discover a wealth of information to enhance your dental care journey.
