What You Need to Know About Gum Disease
About 50% of Australians aged 30 and above suffer from gum disease. According to research, the disease poses a significant risk to dental health. For this reason, it is essential to get to know about it and find out how to prevent it.
Types of Gum Disease
Gingivitis is the term given to this ailment at its formative stage. It arises as a result of poor oral hygiene which leads to swollen gums that are often red. People with this condition suffer from bad breath with gums that bleed easily.
To prevent getting this, gingivitis requires one to exercise good oral health. According to specialists, if it is discovered early, it can be treated. It is why we must visit dentists regularly. For treatment, patients will get a thorough cleaning by a specialist.
After the cleaning, patients will be required to maintain high levels of oral hygiene, failure to which the condition might recur.
In case it is not treated, it might progress to a more severe stage called periodontitis that causes gums to move from the teeth as a result of forming pockets where bacteria hide. For some, teeth become loose and eventually crack.
Risk factors
People who smoke, those who have diabetes are at a higher risk of getting periodontitis. IF your family has had a history of gum disease you are also likely to get it. Those that have either of these risk factors should take necessary precaution.
Preventing periodontitis
The aim is to get the disease at its early stages before it gets to its final stage. Doing this will require a multifaceted approach.
1.Proper oral health
To achieve this, one is required to brush their teeth a minimum of two times daily. It would help if you also formed a habit of flossing, especially after eating. This helps in removing food particles that might get stuck in between.
The right way to brush will involve moving the toothbrush towards the gum and in a circular motion, get rid of the stuck food particles.
Remember while doing this, that you need to be as gentle as possible to avoid injuring your gums. Aggressively brushing your teeth will have a negative effect.
After brushing do proper flossing to get rid of any debris that might have come out as a result of cleaning. Take time to do this; don’t just get water into your mouth and spit it.
2. Avoid risk factors
Like mentioned above, smokers and those with diabetes stand a higher chance of getting gum disease. If you are a smoker who knows this, then it is probably one of the reasons why you should stop.
Eat a balanced diet that has lots of vegetables and fruits, and you will be safe from gum disease. Chewing carrots is also advised since it helps in cleaning debris in between your teeth.
3. Visit your dentist regularly
Visits to the dentist are crucial, but most people would instead visit other specialists for checkup and disregard dentists. This is the wrong move. Detecting early gum disease is hard and would only be diagnosed by a dentist. A visit to your dentist can mean the difference between reversing a treatable situation to serious one that may result in loss of teeth.
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