receding gums

Gum Recession is a progressive condition which makes the gum margins that surround the teeth wear down. It exposes the tooth’s underlying portions like root. It is quite abnormal and requires immediate dental treatment.

Our Teeth gums are made up of gum tissues which are extremely dense and contain the blood vessels beneath them. The gums are firmly attached to the jaw bone and serve as a defender for our teeth.

When there is a deterioration or infection in the gum tissues, it will lead to receding gums. It is common in people over 40 years but our lifestyle changes and some habits make us prone to this oral complication at any ages.

In this post, we have discussed the causes, treatments available and prevention tips to get rid of receding gums.

What causes receding gums?

Poor Oral Hygiene – Ineffective dental hygiene is the base reason for various oral diseases and dental complications. Gum recession is not an exception. If you do not extract the bacteria efficiently with mouth cleaning activities like brushing and flossing, then oral bacteria will inherit in your mouth and infect various oral regions including gum tissues.

Genes – Researches show that gum recession is also hereditary and occurs due to genetic disorders. The chances are higher for women to infect with this condition due to the hormonal changes occurs during pregnancy

Smoking – Tobacco and nicotine present cigarettes are highly powerful to inhibit the gum tissues. It leads to gum recession. Remember that smokers are highly vulnerable to tooth loss and jaw bone loss followed by receding gums.

Brushing too hard – The gum margins begin to pull back when the gum lines are hit forcefully with the bristles of a toothbrush . To say simply, if you brush your teeth too vigorously, then you will be affected by receding gums. It is better to utilize toothbrush with soft bristles or electric toothbrush and apply minimum pressure while brushing.

Gum Diseases – Gum Recession is a symptom of gum or periodontal diseases. When our gums are infected with diseases like gingivitis, it kills the gum tissues and make the gums to recede, swollen and bleed. It can be cured if the disease is early diagnosed and treated.

Besides these, habits like teeth grinding, oral piercings also lead to receding gums.

Gum Recession Treatment

The deteriorated gum tissues cannot be regrown but in contrast, we can abolish the progression and preserve the infected gums with dental treatments. The treatments will vary depending on the degree of infection.

The higher the infection, more complex treatments are required.

Deep dental cleaning is sufficient to treat the infection in mild cases. During this treatment, the bacterial infection beneath the gum layer is carefully extracted. It prevents the expansion of the bacterial invasion in the gums and smoothens the exposed underlying teeth regions.

In contrast, surgical procedures are required to save our gums. Following are the surgeries available to treat gum recession:

Open flap Scaling – It involves rending the infected gum flap and then remove the pockets formed, infected gum tissues to rescue the gum region and the teeth.

Bone Grafting– It should be done by a dental surgeon. The surgical procedure involves regenerating the bone lost due to the consequences of receding gums.

Connective Tissue Graft – It is done to regenerate the gum tissues. In this surgical procedure, a tissue below the palette is cut down and then placed it beneath the gum flap. The tissue placed acts as a graft to produce the gum tissues.

Prevention Tips

Similar to our earlier post, we suggested you maintain adequate oral hygiene along with a healthy diet to avert gum recession. Certain tips that are helpful to prevent this oral complication include:

  • Prefer toothbrush with soft bristles
  • Avoid smoking and tobacco products
  • Make a semiannual dental visit

Gum recession seems to be a common dental problem but it is one of the serious conditions you should not ignore. When the soft layers of a tooth are visible, oral bacteria stick to it and develop pockets between the teeth and the gum margins. It leads to various discomforts like bad breath, teeth sensitivity, etc.

If it is not treated at right time, the process of infection in the gums will continue and deteriorate to cause serious gum diseases like Periodontitis, teeth loss, etc.

Visit your Dentist immediately when you notice a larger portion of your teeth due to the gum recession.