Are You Ignoring Your Gum Health?
Underestimating the importance of healthy gums could lead to serious problems
Most of us probably consider that we look after our teeth at least fairly well. Years of being told to brush our teeth, by our parents, has probably drilled into us that we need to brush them every day.
This is a good start for sure, but it does sometimes mean that another important part of our mouths is given less attention than should be the case.
Having healthy gums is incredibly important, and not just for our teeth but for our general health too. Advanced gum disease can lead to many problems, not least the possibility of tooth loss. The good news though is that it is relatively easy to stop this happening, with just a little extra care.
What is gum disease?
Gum disease is an infection caused by an excess of harmful bacteria in our mouths. This often involves involves plaque, a substance containing bacteria that coats our teeth and gums and ‘attacks’ them, causing damage. Mild cases are not uncommon and can happen, for example, when we are ill and maybe miss cleaning our teeth a couple of times. This is usually not too problematic and a return to regular brushing may be all that is needed to reverse it. When it is allowed to advance though, serious problems may lie ahead.
Symptoms of gum disease
Whilst it is possible to have ‘silent’ gum disease, where symptoms don’t really present themselves, this is not usually the case and there are a number of possible indicators that there may be problems with your gums. These include:
- Sore or inflamed gums
- Painful gums when you bite on food
- Bleeding gums when you brush your teeth
- Bad breath/halitosis
- Receding gums
- Loose or wobbly teeth
This is not an exclusive list and other symptoms may present themselves. If you feel that something is wrong with your teeth or gums, you should contact The Dental Centre Bedford as soon as possible to have the problem checked out.
We have all seen, on the news, about the anti vaccination movement and how misinformation has spread, largely via social media. Whilst this format has its benefits in that friends who live long distances away can communicate easily and various interest groups can come together to discuss their chosen topic, it also allows misinformation to spread easily and without checks and balances in place in most cases.
Also sometimes referred to as a ‘cap’, a dental crown is a commonly used way of restoring damaged or broken teeth. They can also be used for cosmetic purposes, for example where a tooth has worn down and appears to be shorter than it should be.
A lot of money is spent on advertising cosmetic dental treatments to the younger generation. Brought up on the likes of Love Island and other ‘celebrity’ shows, they are accustomed to seeing people of their own age with beautiful white and even teeth. Whilst cosmetic dentistry is often aimed at this age group, it doesn’t mean that our older Bedford patients can’t benefit as well. In fact, they are likely to really benefit in a lot of cases.
With the expectation that society will soon open up further following Covid restrictions, we are sure that some of you may be thinking about comsetic dentistry as you get ready to mingle more freely again.
Especially since the advent of the internet, we have all become ‘experts’ at diagnosing our health problems. A quick search can throw up a lot of possible answers to why we are feeling the way that we are.
Tooth loss can happen for a number of reasons. These include neglect but also from the result of an accident such as a fall or a blow to the mouth. Especially if a front tooth is knocked out, or lost otherwise, it can have a distinct effect on our appearance and more often than not, we need to do something about it.
In our blog you will find several articles about the treatments we have available to help you have whiter teeth. These are very popular, but for some patients, there can be drawbacks in that they can actually highlight other ‘flaws’ in your smile; one of the most noticeable being where a patient has crooked or uneven teeth.
As many of our Bedford patients will be aware, routine dental appointments have not been as widely available as they used to be. The reasons for this are well known.
In today’s blog, we will take a look at a treatment that some of you may fear being told that you need to have. We are, of course, talking about a root canal procedure. There are many theories why there is more anxiety surrounding this treatment compared to others, but whatever the reason is, there is little doubt that it is one that patients hope to avoid. But fortunately those concerns are overstated.