Obviously, we want to help you keep your teeth strong and healthy. We do that by protecting them and repairing enamel that’s been damaged by decay, wear, or cracks. But keeping your gums healthy is just as important as preventing cavities!
In honor of National Gum Care Month, let’s take a look at why your gums are so important and what you can do to keep them healthy.
Why Are Your Gums So Important?
Your gums are a critical part of the support structures that keep your teeth in place. This specialized soft tissue covers and surrounds the roots of the teeth, as well as the ridge of bone and ligaments that hold the teeth in the bone socket.
Gum disease is the number one cause of tooth loss in adults. So keeping your gums healthy is a critical part of protecting your smile.
But it goes beyond that! Gum disease has also been linked to many health issues that affect your whole body. For example, untreated gum disease could increase your risks for:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Complications in childbirth and pregnancy
- Pneumonia
- Arthritis
- Pancreatitis
- Pancreatic cancer
- Certain other types of cancer
Plus, gum disease is a major cause for less serious, but incredibly bothersome issues like persistent bad breath, tooth sensitivity, and poor smile aesthetics.
Your gums make up a significant part of the anatomy of your mouth, as well as your overall health. So how do you know if your gums are healthy or not?
What Are the Warning Signs of Gum Disease?
- Gums that bleed easily, especially when you brush or floss
- Puffy or swollen gums with a shiny appearance
- Red gums, especially along the edge and between the teeth
- Receding gum line
- Changes to your bite
- Loose teeth
- Persistent bad breath or foul tastes in your mouth
- Pus between your teeth and gums
What Can You Do to Prevent Gum Disease?
The bad news is that about half of adults in the US have some form of gum disease. That number gets even higher for people over 65 years old.
The good news? Gum disease is reversible in its early stages and treatable even in its more advanced stages.
Treating and preventing gum disease is easiest when it’s mild. Mild gum disease, known as gingivitis, is when the gums are inflamed but no permanent damage has occurred to the bone sockets or ligaments.
Allowed to progress, that inflammation can start to eat away at the bone supporting your teeth and damage the ligaments that surround the tooth roots. These types of damage are considered permanent, although there are treatments to help reverse some of this damage.
Your best bet? Take an active approach to taking care of your gums! Even if you already have gum disease, improving your routine can make a big difference right away, and slow down the disease process until you can get professional treatment.
Here’s how to do it.
How to Treat Gum Disease at Home
We want to be clear: treating moderate to severe gum disease takes professional help. However, there is a lot you can do to improve your gum disease at home.
In many cases, you don’t need super expensive products that promise to work miracles. Our advice is exactly what you probably expect:
- Brush twice every day, with good technique, for at least two minutes.
- Floss and clean between your teeth at least once every day.
That’s it. No big secrets. However, we can make things easier and take your home care routine to the next level with a few other tips.
- Consider buying a good quality electric toothbrush. We recommend Sonicare because we have seen that it gets the best results of any brush on the market. Depending on what model you buy, they can be a little pricey up front, but they’re well worth the investment and can even help save you money on expensive dental treatments over the long run.
- Add a water flosser to your routine. Flossing will always be the gold standard. But a water flosser can reach deeper areas of the gums that floss can’t reach. Plus, it’s much easier and more comfortable for many people. So if you dread the idea of flossing, this might be a great alternative. It’s also ideal if you have dexterity limitations like arthritis.
- Eat a nutritious diet that’s full of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C can help with wound healing, collagen (such as from chicken, salmon, leafy greens, and legumes) has been shown to improve periodontal disease, and Omega-3s (which you can find in nuts and seeds) have anti-inflammatory properties.
- Use anti-microbial mouthwash after you brush and floss in the evening to keep your bacterial profile under control. Bonus points if it has fluoride in it like Listerine Total Care!
As you can see, there is a lot you can do to improve gum disease at home. But let’s take a closer look at that one thing most people hope the dentist won’t bring up at their check-up: flossing.
Why Is Flossing Good for Your Gums?
It’s the thing most of us skip more often than not. So why does your dentist or hygienist always make such a big deal about it?
Flossing arguably has the potential to make the biggest difference in your oral health for most people. Obviously, the goal is to remove plaque, where bacteria proliferate and cause cavities and gum disease.
But it does more that that for your gum health!
Flossing stimulates the gum tissue, which can increase blood flow. That means more oxygen (essential to keeping soft tissue healthy), sweeping away bacteria and inflammatory compounds through the blood supply where they can be handled by the immune system, and an improved immune response.
Physically massaging the tissue between your teeth with floss also stimulates the cells to produce collagen and keratin, both of which are essential to making skin strong and resilient. That will help the gums become less spongy and porous, and give them a more effective barrier against bacterial invasion.
So do what you can to keep yourself motivated to floss, hopefully every day, but at least a few times per week. You’ll see a big difference in your gum health within about two weeks of consistent flossing.
There’s just one more thing you need to do to truly care for your gums: call us!
Our Team Can Help You Enjoy Better Gum Health!
As much as you can improve your gum health at home, treating and preventing gum disease takes professional care. And the Lake Baldwin Team is here to support you with effective gum disease treatment in Orlando, FL.
Routine dental cleanings are the best way to keep your teeth and gums healthy and stay alert to any problems that might be developing under the radar. If it’s been a while since you’ve had your teeth cleaned, we can help get you back on track with more advanced gum disease treatments like scaling and root planing (sometimes called deep cleaning). We also partner with talented periodontists in the Orlando area, so you can get the treatments you need for severe gum disease issues.
Whether you want to maintain your already healthy gums, or you’re looking for an effective way to treat gum disease, we’re here for you! Call us to schedule your next cleaning so you can enjoy great oral health and keep smiling, Orlando!
