Gum recession is one of the most common complaints of our customers. What is gum recession?
When the gums or the gingiva moves away from the tooth, that is called the gum recession. In such cases, the patient will be able to see the root of their teeth. They can see some black triangles in between the teeth. They will have certain symptoms like sensitivity and also one major concern is the aesthetic of the patient. It does not look pleasing.
When the gums move away from the tooth, they are leaving the teeth or receding. That is why the name gingival recession or gum recession. In such cases what will happen? The tooth will start appearing larger. What the patient usually tells us is that their teeth are appearing larger. Because the root is also now visible to them and then we can see some triangular holes between the teeth. Because the gingiva that fills the spaces between the teeth is not available. This will lead to sensitivity and an unaesthetic appearance. If you do not treat the situation, it will lead to bone loss and eventually, it can lead to tooth loss. There is no point in taking this for granted.
Why you can have gum recession?
The most common cause is poor oral hygiene. When you don’t brush your teeth properly, you don’t brush your teeth enough for two minutes or you don’t brush your teeth in the morning and the night, the chances of gum recession will increase. Because when you don’t clean, there is the accumulation of plaque, which eventually gets converted to calculus. Because of that plaque and calculus, we have so much bacteria there. It can lead to gum recession.
There are a certain group of people who brush their teeth very vigorously to keep them clean. That can also lead to gum recession. You don’t have to do it more or less. You have to do it just enough to keep your teeth clean. Follow proper brushing techniques. Don’t brush horizontally. Avoid scrubbing. Don’t use hard bristles. Use soft bristles. Nowadays we also have ultra-soft bristles.
Genetic causes
If you have genetically thin gum tissue, you can have more chances of gum recession. If you are undergoing orthodontic treatment, there are many cases of orthodontic treatment that come to the clinic and they have gum recession. They might not have gum recession in one month or one year of orthodontic treatment. But yes, even after five years some patients have had orthodontic treatment and now they are having gum recession.
How can we minimize gum recession at home?
What kind of toothbrush do we recommend? There are two categories of toothbrushes: manual and electric. If you have proper control over your electric brushes, they are good. If you don’t get the proper control in the electric brushes, I would recommend you stick to the manual brushes.
While holding the brush, don’t hold it with your entire palm. Because when you hold it that way and brush your teeth, you will apply more force on the teeth so which can lead to gum recession. Just hold it lightly with your fingers and brush.
Then as I already said brushing technique is very important. Don’t brush horizontally. Don’t scrub it. It’s not a utensil that you’re brushing. You have to be very careful because we have soft tissues there. You have your gums there. So brush vertically in this fashion.
If you are a smoker, stop smoking because smoking leads to a decrease in the blood supply to the gums, which can lead to recession.
Consult your dentist
You should do it as soon as possible. Because in cases where you have plaque accumulation and calculus accumulation, you need to get it cleaned by a professional. You cannot clean in any way at home. In all those videos that you are seeing on the internet to remove the calculus, they are just playing with your mouth to gain views and to earn money. From your side, you need to make sure you are maintaining your oral hygiene properly. You are using the correct technique and consult a dentist for proper professional scaling and root cleaning than cleaning your teeth. At least once a year is very essential. Maximum cases, which are in the initial level of gum recession, simply get back to normal only by scaling and root planing.
