At Clifton Dental Studio in Bristol we offer a full range of general dental services for all the family, including the prevention, treatment and management of gum disease.
What is gum disease?
Gum disease is one of the most common oral diseases. It occurs when the gums become inflamed as a result of irritation caused by harmful bacteria present in plaque. Plaque is a sticky film that is able to adhere to the surfaces of the teeth and gums. There are two types of gum disease: gingivitis, which causes the gums to become inflamed and sore, and periodontal disease, which causes damage to the tissues that support the teeth.
Although gum disease is very common, it is preventable and we live by the motto that prevention is always better than cure. We encourage out patients to attend regular dental check-ups and highly recommend dental hygiene sessions.
Spotting gum disease
Treating gum disease early is imperative, so it is important that you are aware of the warning signs. Symptoms of gum disease include bleeding, sore and red gums and swelling and tenderness in the gums.
If you notice these symptoms, it is important to see your dentist.
Treating gum disease
In cases of mild gum disease, good oral hygiene is usually sufficient treatment. However, periodontal disease is much more complex to treat and often takes several months. During the treatment process, patients are treated by dentists and dental hygienists and common therapies include regular cleaning treatments, root planing and scale and polish treatment, which removes plaque from the teeth and gum line. In cases where pockets have developed between the teeth and gums, intensive periodontal cleaning will be carried out to prevent the infection from spreading any further and to try to save the teeth.
Gum disease can be very damaging, but it is preventable. At Clifton Dental Studio, we actively promote preventative dental care and provide effective gum disease treatment and management. We always believe that prevention is better than cure and there are some very simple ways you can reduce your risk of developing gum disease:
Brushing and flossing
Brushing is essential to remove bacteria and bits of food from your mouth. If bacteria are left to linger, they combine with saliva and food debris to form plaque, which is a major risk factor for gum disease and cavities. Brushing sweeps away bacteria and plaque and polishes the teeth to make them glow. Flossing is an important part of your daily oral hygiene routine because it targets the tiny cracks between your teeth and cleans the gum line.
Ideally, you should brush your teeth every morning and evening for at least two minutes each time. We recommend using fluoride toothpaste. Daily flossing is also hugely beneficial.
Seeing your dentist
Regular check-ups enable us to spot any early warning signs of gum disease and this means that treatment can be administered as early as possible. The mild form of gum disease, gingivitis, is easy to treat with good oral hygiene, but periodontal disease is much harder to manage. We recommend routine check-ups every six months.
Watch your diet
Your diet has a significant influence on your oral health. Foods that contain a lot of sugar increases the risk of dental diseases because bacteria in your mouth feed on the sugars and subsequently release acids, which attack the enamel and irritate the gums. Try to avoid eating excessive amounts of sugary foods and try to stick to three meals a day, rather than grazing during the day. Always wait around one hour after eating to clean your teeth to prevent damage to the enamel.
Spot the signs
Spotting the warning signs of gum disease helps to prevent the situation from getting worse. The most common signs to look out for include swollen, sore and bleeding gums. If you notice these symptoms, see your dentist as soon as you can.
When it comes to gum disease, it’s really beneficial to be aware of the danger signs, as mild gum disease can quickly become more advanced. Seeing your dentist as soon as you notice symptoms can help to prevent the problem from becoming more serious and ensure that you don’t have to endure painful and sore gums.
Spotting the warning signs of gum disease
The most common symptoms of mild gum disease, which is also known as gingivitis, include swollen and sore gums and bleeding when you clean your teeth. As gum disease becomes more advanced, symptoms tend to become more apparent and include redness, inflammation, pain and tenderness. In advanced cases, the gums recede and pockets develop between the teeth and gums.
What should I do if I think I have gum disease?
If your gums are sore or swollen or you notice blood when you brush your teeth, call us and arrange an appointment. If you do have gum disease, it’s best to treat it as early as possible to prevent it from becoming more severe. Mild gum disease is relatively easy to treat, but advanced gum disease causes irreversible damage to the bone structure that holds the teeth in place, meaning that they eventually come loose.
How can I prevent gum disease?
The best way of lowering your chances of developing gum disease is to maintain good oral hygiene. Your daily oral hygiene regime should include brushing and flossing. You should aim to brush every morning and every evening for at least 2 minutes each time, using fluoride toothpaste. Flossing daily will help to remove bacteria and any leftover bits of food from the spaces between your teeth and ensure that your gum line is clean. We also recommend seeing a dentist every 6 months for a check-up and visiting our amazing dental hygienists.
Gum disease is an oral disease which causes the gums to become sore and inflamed. Although it is entirely preventable, it is the most common cause of tooth loss in adults in the UK.
We firmly believe that prevention is better than cure and we offer preventative dental treatment, as well as advice about oral hygiene and diet; however, we also provide effective treatment for patients who already have signs of gum disease.
How to spot gum disease
Gum disease is progressive condition, which means that it gets worse with time. Early diagnosis and treatment ensures that it does not get any worse. If you spot the symptoms of gum disease, call and make an appointment as soon as possible. If gum disease is left untreated, it causes damage to the gums, as well as the bone structure beneath, which will eventually result in the teeth coming loose and falling out.
The most common symptoms of gum disease include swollen and tender gums, redness and tenderness in the gums and bleeding, which is usually most noticeable when you clean your teeth.
Treatment for gum disease
Gingivitis, the milder form of gum disease, is usually treatable with good oral hygiene practises, including intensive cleaning to remove plaque from the gum line.
The more advanced form of gum disease, periodontal disease, is much more difficult to treat and requires very careful long-term management. Regular hygiene sessions are advised in tandem with good oral hygiene at home.
Of course, the best way to handle gum disease is to prevent it in the first place and you can do this by sticking to a good oral hygiene routine at home, visiting your dentist for regular check-ups and keeping an eye on what you eat.
One of the most dangerous things that your mouth can suffer from is gum disease and if you don’t get in quick to tackle it, it can bring on tooth loss and heart disease. You have to look out for the early warning signs and the most obvious one is bleeding gums and if you find blood on your toothbrush after brushing, you need to act fast. It could simply be a case of an over abrasive brush, but in any case, seek solace and advice from someone who knows and if you live in Surbiton, then get in touch with an expert outfit called Clifton Dental; they are based in Bristol but serve the town and they can help you through this potential minefield. Things will have to change with the way you do your oral hygiene from brush to mouthwash and up the times you use them; rinse with salt water, get in some herbal remedies and incorporate them into your programme, as they can help soothe any burning inflammation in the gums, especially if you massage the gum tissue with certain herbal products. Look at what you eat as well as a good diet helps to improve your immune system and keep saliva levels up in the mouth. Finally if you smoke and drink, this will not help with any recovery, so try to cut these out.
There are so many conditions to look out for in your mouth, but among the top ten of the worst is gum disease. This attacks you on so many different levels; it not only crucifies your gums and subsequently your teeth, but whilst doing so, it leaks toxins into the blood that then infect the heart and other organs. The early signs, and you must have seen the ads on TV, is when your gums bleed after brushing or ‘weep’, leaving a bad tang in your mouth. Act swiftly because otherwise it will get harder to combat as the disease sets in. Utilise the services and advice of your dentist immediately and then set about changing bits of your life around. Oral hygiene, diet, and those little bad habits (drinking and smoking) must change in order to fight this off and build your immune system up again. Herbal products are also useful to calm the inflammation down in your mouth, as well as massaging your gums each night to increase blood-flow. Swindon is served by Clifton Dental of Bristol, and these people should be your first port of call whenever you suspect anything going wrong, for they will help advise you on any aspect of this vicious and spiteful disease.
If you are honest with yourself, even as a full-blown adult, it is very hard to resist the lure of chomping of something sweet and sugary; the flavours from chocolate, sweets and especially ice cream are very hard to resist. However, unless you ensure that your teeth are clean afterwards, the sugar from these superb vices will play havoc with your teeth and gums and you could well end up suffering from the nasty alliance of halitosis and gum disease somewhere down the line. Both are hard to get rid of and it won’t help either if you just can’t chuck your addiction of putting sweet and tasty things in your mouth whilst being treated for both these conditions. Weirdly though, you can continue your love of certain sweet things that will actually help you overcome both bad breath and gum disease. A lot of research has gone into this and there are certain sweet things you can chew and eat on that will help treat such problems in your mouth; not surprisingly, they come from a natural source. For example, the acids found in certain raisins and cranberries can not only eliminate the odours in your mouth, but help to calm gum disease down as well; and there are lots of other great and sweet things you can chew on as well. For a complete breakdown on the nutrition’s in fruit and vegetables that are sweet to the palette, then give Clifton Dental a visit, because they can supply you with everything you need to know in Bristol
There are some very serious conditions that threaten your oral health and periodontal disease is just one of them; it is often thought of as gum disease, but it is more like gum disease plus one. Everything starts with plaque; it will soon harden into tartar if left alone, then it will infect the gums and induce decay into the teeth. The early signs of periodontal disease can be bleeding gums or severe toothache and you need to act fast in order to stop this going any further. You may well require a filling or a root canal; you will also need to address your lifestyle- your habits, and improve your oral hygiene if you want to avoid gum disease. If you do nothing about any of this, the decay will destroy the inside of your teeth and the gums will start to recede and peel away from the surfaces of the teeth, and both will improve the odds of abscesses breaking out…and it gets worse. The bacteria will then obliterate the gums and cause the bone below the teeth to decay, ending with your teeth falling out. If periodontal disease gets to this stage, recovery will involve tissue and bone grafts and apart from being painfully complex, it will be painfully expensive too. For more advice about the dangers of periodontal disease and how to avoid it, give Clifton Dental of Bristol a call; they operate around the Chepstow area and are experts in this field of dentistry.
If you suffer from diabetes, you will know how difficult this can make life for you; you have to be on top of your health and diet, be wary of the sugar levels in your body and keep to a strict regime each day with your insulin intake. However, the reason to be on the ball with this condition is because it weakens other aspects within your body, such as your immune system, and this can be detrimental to the health of your mouth. If weakened, the immune system fails to provide the mouth with adequate saliva, and then it is ‘open day’ for bacteria to roam wild amongst your teeth and gums. In the long run, this can lead to tooth decay and gum disease setting up shop in your mouth- two of the most vicious players your mouth can suffer from and not easy to fight, especially if you are already weakened by diabetes. However, to change things around, gum disease on its own can weaken your immune system too; this can break down the sugar levels in your body and then guess what? It can actually induce the possibility of diabetes breaking out in the body. Both conditions on their own are potentially lethal, but combined they are tragic. Clifton Dental are a company based in the Bristol area and verse themselves in every aspect of dentistry, so give them a call immediately if you are familiar with anything that has been raised above.
Bad breath and gum disease can go hand in hand, but they are both extremely difficult to conquer, so you are going to need expert advice and treatments from your dentist. On the advice front, Clifton Dental over in Bristol are in the area and can offer you information on how to fight off bad breath, and on how to tackle gum disease at home in Bath. Seeing as the toxins from gum disease can make your breath smell bad, you need to find out the extent of how bad it is; your dentist will be able to determine this very quickly and then set you up with a course of treatments. However, it is what you do at home that will determine how effectively you beat gum disease. You must look at your habits and cut them out in order to give your gums a chance of recovery; your diet will also have to change in order to strengthen your immune system and sustain the levels of saliva present in your mouth. Oral hygiene is an essential key to your success as well; you will need to adjust it and then improve it. You would be wise to bring in some natural herbal remedies at this point, as they can help to calm the inflammation in the gums, and rinsing with salt water can stem and heal any leakage of toxins or blood from the gums each day: massaging will help to rejuvenate the blood vessels. Hopefully then, your bad breath will disappear as the disease is got under control.
Dr Gerrard is a Bristol based Cosmetic dentist with many years of experience and is one of only a small number of dentists accredited by The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
