I have so many oral and dental health topics lined up! But let’s talk about gum health coming in to the new year.
Surely, you’ve heard your dentist, or the label on your oral healthcare product, bang on about gum disease. So, what is the big deal? Why do we care? Most importantly, why should YOU care?
Well basically, healthy gums provide a healthy foundation for your teeth. It is very possible to have perfectly whole teeth, without holes or fillings or any other dental restoration, yet still lose them. I see it all too often while working in my clinical role. The heartbreaking part is, a lot of the time, these people will have had NO IDEA at all that they were in trouble. Trouble that began long ago and avoidable if they knew that simply regular visits to their general dentist would have picked up signs of disease so much earlier on and prevention strategies put in place. A lot of the time, gum disease develops silently. No pain, no noticeable changes. And if there’s anything noticeable, often that will be a sign of very advanced disease, such as: loose teeth, pus draining into the mouth, bleeding, bad smell, bad breath, teeth drifting and changes in alignment, sometimes even a tooth falling out spontaneously!
So breaking the bad news to these people, who had no expectation of such a detrimental problem, can be hard work. In fact, I feel it’s one of the hardest parts of my job. Understandably, such unwelcome facts are hard to digest and accept. People are often at first rather incredulous about their condition, then emotional and shocked that teeth will be lost, and then concern about the treatment required to replace newly lost teeth, which could stretch the budget. Treatment is also often not straightforward to plan either.
Surely, you’ve heard your dentist, or the label on your oral healthcare product, bang on about gum disease. So, what is the big deal? Why do we care? Most importantly, why should YOU care?
Well basically, healthy gums provide a healthy foundation for your teeth. It is very possible to have perfectly whole teeth, without holes or fillings or any other dental restoration, yet still lose them. I see it all too often while working in my clinical role. The heartbreaking part is, a lot of the time, these people will have had NO IDEA at all that they were in trouble. Trouble that began long ago and avoidable if they knew that simply regular visits to their general dentist would have picked up signs of disease so much earlier on and prevention strategies put in place. A lot of the time, gum disease develops silently. No pain, no noticeable changes. And if there’s anything noticeable, often that will be a sign of very advanced disease, such as: loose teeth, pus draining into the mouth, bleeding, bad smell, bad breath, teeth drifting and changes in alignment, sometimes even a tooth falling out spontaneously!
So breaking the bad news to these people, who had no expectation of such a detrimental problem, can be hard work. In fact, I feel it’s one of the hardest parts of my job. Understandably, such unwelcome facts are hard to digest and accept. People are often at first rather incredulous about their condition, then emotional and shocked that teeth will be lost, and then concern about the treatment required to replace newly lost teeth, which could stretch the budget. Treatment is also often not straightforward to plan either.
