If you’re one of our lovely patients that’s worried about gum disease then fear not, our dentist Richmond is here to help. We see hundreds of patients at the practice who are worried about bleeding gums and in the vast majority of cases we see, a good clean and a new oral hygiene plan is all that’s needed to put your smile back to its healthiest state.
Why do we develop gum disease?
We can develop gum disease really very easily if we’re completely honest. It doesn't take much build up for our gums to start having a hard time and as such becoming inflamed, red and even bleeding. At the very basic level the reason we develop gum disease is to do with how well we clean our teeth. Lots of people think they’re cleaning their teeth really well, when in fact the way in which they’re brushing just isn’t quite reaching the important areas to clean. Plaque is what we call bacteria build-up on the teeth and gums and if you aren’t sure what it is exactly then take a google and maybe inspect the back of your bottom teeth, as this is a really common build-up area.
Plaque is dirt basically and just like when we get dirt in any area of our body, if left to develop and not cleaned away, it has the potential to cause infection. We humans naturally see infections as bad things, but really in a roundabout way they’re good, as it is actually the body's way of protecting us. Infection is the body sending its best fighting soldiers to clean down and save the area, but in doing this sometimes what it wants is to make the whole area go away which obviously is what we must do to plaque if we want to keep our teeth healthy and sound.
So, what can be done by our dentist Richmond?
We at Sheen Dental want to stress to patients that gum disease is totally treatable and not everyone, in fact hardly anyone, loses teeth because of it. Not that it shouldn't be taken seriously because it absolutely should, but just that there’s no need to panic at the first sign of bleeding gums.
We like to take a holistic approach to curing gum disease, one that partners our assistance in the dental practice with care you take over dental hygiene at home. Your dentist Richmond will book you in for a scale and polish with the practice hygienist, who will talk you through all you need to know about gum disease and how best to get rid of it long term. They’ll ask you about your current oral hygiene practices so they'll be able to identify the holes in your current routine before arming you with all the new tools you need to keep the gum disease demons at bay. Together with a scale and polish your gums will be fit and healthy, nice and quick and you can go out from our surgery without a worry.