Receding gums is a common condition, especially for older patients, but that doesn’t mean it is inevitable. There are certain measures you can take to avoid gum recession, or keep it from progressing further.
Keeping gums from receding has more benefits than keeping your smile looking healthy and attractive. Advanced gum recession leads to highly sensitive teeth, a decline in smile aesthetics, and the risk for bacterial accumulation that causes gum disease. Receding gums can be caused by factors within your control, so by practicing healthy lifestyle habits, like not smoking, you can help avoid gum recession!
4 Ways to Avoid or Slow Receding Gums
Brush your teeth carefully
One of the more common causes of gum recession is aggressive tooth brushing. Brushing your teeth too hard can cause your gums to recede no matter what age you are. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and mildly abrasive toothpaste when brushing.
Practice great oral hygiene
Don’t stop after simply brushing your teeth! Good oral hygiene also includes flossing twice a day and rinsing with mouthwash. Keeping your mouth free from plaque and tartar buildup helps ensure that lingering bacteria don’t irritate the gums and cause them to recede.
Visit your dentist regularly
Your teeth and mouth can only stay so healthy without professional care. Visiting your dentist every six months ensures that any tartar on your teeth is removed and your mouth is thoroughly cleaned to keep disease and infection away.
Seek treatment at the first signs of trouble
If you notice that your gums are receding or that they bleed easily when you brush and floss, contact your dentist right away. Gum disease and gum recession will not go away on their own and need professional treatment.
What Happens if Your Gum Recession is Not Treated?
Few mouth conditions are as damaging as unimpeded gum recession! This occurs when the gum tissue pulls back from the teeth, making the teeth look longer than they should. Unfortunately, many people delay seeking treatment. Once you notice the gums pulling back, you need to seek relief or else you could deal with serious complications.
Risks of Gum Recession:
- Gum disease
- Sensitive teeth
- Malocclusion (bite misalignment)
- Loose teeth
- Tooth loss
- Jawbone recession
- Unbalanced smile
- Long-looking teeth
- Loss of self-confidence
How We Reverse Receding Gums
If you’re experiencing gum recession, you may believe that you’ll never see your beautiful, balanced smile again. Rest assured that gum recession reversal is not only possible, but that you already have the solution to your own problem. A dental specialist can remove a small amount of healthy soft tissue either from the roof of your mouth, from in front of any teeth that already have disproportionate gum coverage, or from another donor source, and attach it to the area where your gums have receded. Gum grafting, as this treatment is called, restores the protective function, the health, and the aesthetics of your gum tissue.
With artistic precision, a periodontist can recreate your full, original gumline, adding gum grafts where the tissue is deficient to even out its appearance. This is all done with an eye toward restoring the natural curved shape of the tissue around your teeth. Following this procedure, we can explain what habits and other factors might be contributing to your gum recession, so you can avoid it in the future.
Schedule your appointment
Receding gums are never ideal, but their progression can be halted with proper treatment. Reach out to your local dentists, Dr. Nabil Fehmi and Dr. Maryam Beyramian, in our offices across Phoenix, AZ for further information about gum grafting treatment with our Qualified Staff!
