The most obvious symptom of gum disease is bleeding gums. Bleeding gums commonly occur when you are brushing or flossing your teeth. You may also notice bleeding gums when you are eating hard or crusty foods. Your gums may also appear red, slightly brown or swollen. Sometimes the gums start to recede as the gums recede from the plaque ridden teeth.

There are certain lifestyle factors that can greatly contribute, either positively or negatively, towards your gum health. One of the greatest lifestyle factors is smoking. There are so many negative health impacts caused by smoking and poor gum health is just one of them as it stops oxygen getting to the gums as effectively as it normally would. This reduced oxygen supply can also affect your body’s ability to fight off infection under the gum.

Gum disease starts out mildly and may take years to really deteriorate. By the time a smoker gets to an age of around 35, it is very common to see the start of gum disease around the teeth and gum line.

Smoking is not the sole cause of poor gum health however.  Stress is another factor that can really affect your gum health. Stress is one of the worst things for your health and body. It can affect all aspects of your health including your gums! Eradicating as much stress as you can from your life is going to lead to much better health outcomes all over.

Looking after your diet and exercise aspects of your lifestyle is also an important thing to do. Reducing the amount of sugar and junk in your diet and maximizing nutrient intake is going to lead to better gum health overall.

The build up of bacteria in the mouth leads to the growth of plaque around the base of the tooth. This build up of plaque is the major factor of gum disease. It causes swollen gums and can causing bleeding when you brush or eat certain foods. Over time the condition can worsen and the plaque eats away at the tooth enamel and the gums recede away from the plaque. If the condition is left to deteriorate, then the gums may no longer be able to properly support the teeth and teeth may become loose and fall out.

The primary weapon against gum disease is home oral health care. If you are diligent about looking after your teeth at home on a daily basis, then you can generally avoid developing the condition. You should be brushing your teeth after every meal and flossing in between your teeth at least once per day. Flossing is the most effective way to remove plaque that springs up between the teeth.

Your diet is another important factor when it comes to looking after your teeth. Cut down on as much sugar as you can and processed foods as these encourage the growth of bacteria in the mouth. Starchy, stodgy foods and fried foods are also best avoided as they can encourage plaque development. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and proteins such as eggs and fish, which can protect the teeth and assist with the prevention of gum disease.

There is some evidence that green tea can also have a protective result with the teeth as it has powerful antioxidant properties to kill off bacteria. Mint tea is another alternative, which has anti-bacterial properties and is also able to soothe swollen gums. Cranberry juice is also thought be effective against plaque due to its antioxidant properties.

Simple lifestyle changes such as the above as well as trying to reduce stress levels, getting plenty of sleep and also taking enough exercise can also make a difference to you gum health and overall well being.

People can develop gum disease at any age, but it is more common in adults. The reason for this is that it can take several years to fully develop and it may also be an indication of an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease and even respiratory conditions. Certain lifestyle factors such as smoking are also guilty of causing gum disease in adults.

The reason that smoking increases the risk of adults developing gum disease is that it restricts the efficiency with which oxygen is circulated around the body including the gums. Tar from cigarettes also facilitates the growth of plaque and tartar on the teeth and gums, which lead to gum disease.

Diet also plays a big role in determining whether or not you develop gum disease. Diets that are high in sugar and processed or starchy foods are much more likely to result in more bacteria in the mouth, which leads to gum disease. Conversely, if you look after your diet and eat plenty of fresh, unprocessed foods, you can protect your dental health and minimize the amount of bacteria produced in the mouth. If you are not eating healthily, then your body is not as strong as it could be and will not be able to fight off infection 100 per cent effectively.

Stress can also contribute to gum disease – stress limits the body’s ability to fight of infection and the effectiveness of the immune system. This is just another reason that you should try to reduce the amount of stress in your life. It is also important to get a good amount of sleep and rest to allow your body to restore itself.

The Main Cause Of Gum Disease

Without doubt, the main cause of gum disease is a build up of bacteria in the mouth. This can be caused by a number of factors, but the main culprit invariably is poor oral hygiene. Research has also shown that other factors include: genetics, smoking, stress, diet and hormonal changes in women.
Bacteria cause the problem as it grows when food particles are left behind. As the bacteria levels increase, plaque starts to form on the teeth and the sticky plaque can become tartar. Gingivitis is the first phase of gum disease and this then deteriorates to become periodontitis.

How to Prevent Gum Disease

Preventing gum disease is a pretty straightforward process for most people. To prevent it good oral hygiene and periodic visits to your dentist twice a year are usually enough. To prevent the condition, or to get rid of it in the early stages you should:

• Brush your teeth at least twice a day. Use a toothbrush that has been recommended for you by your dentist. Choose a good quality toothpaste – some good choices are OraMD and one with baking soda included.
• Gargle and wash out your mouth with an alcohol free mouth wash.
• Floss your teeth at least once a day before brushing to remove food particles that are stuck between teeth.
• Visit the dentist every six months for a check up and thorough clean.

By following the above advice you are generally able to prevent gum disease from ever occurring.

Conclusion

You can easily avoid having to confront gum disease if you take the proper steps to prevent the condition from occurring. The best prevention is to brush, floss and rinse daily.

In the early stages, you can easily reverse the onslaught of gum diseases by being diligent about your dental hygiene. This means that you should be aiming to brush your teeth after each meal and flossing too. At a minimum you should be brushing twice a day, flossing once per day and using a mouth wash to flush away the left over bacteria and germs. Many of us are guilty about getting a little lax with our home dental care routine, but it is essential that you are consistent to avoid a build up of bacteria, which leads to plaque, tartar and gum disease.

If the gum disease has already become set in, then this means that you have a build up of tartar around the root of the tooth. This could be causing the gums to recede away from the teeth. At this point it may be necessary to visit your dentist and have them perform a deep clean where they cleanse the gums to remove as much bacteria as possible. A specialist dentist who performs this kind of procedure is called a periodontist. When they do this treatment they will numb your mouth and clean under the gums and around the roots of the teeth. The success of the procedure depends on how much damage there is already.

Sometimes there is so much damage and infection already in the gums that the teeth have loosened. This is because the receding gums undermine the support that the gum is able to provide to the tooth. If this is the case, then the periodontist may have to resort to surgical treatments to help rectify the situation.

If you get a diagnosis of gum disease on time and manages to apply greater care of the teeth and visit a dentist for a thorough clean a couple of times a year, then you can avoid getting to the point where more serious surgical procedures are necessary. Employing good oral hygiene techniques at home is the key to maintaining good oral health.

Smoking has been banned in public places in many countries as it has become more and more anti-social. This is done to protect the health of patrons in public spaces such as restaurants from the harmful effects of breathing in the smoke.

Your mouth is the first contact with your body that cigarette smoke has – so you can just imagine the damage that it can cause. It is estimated in the United States that up to three quarters of the gum disease sufferers in the country are smokers.

Smoking causes gum disease in a couple of different ways. First of all it constricts the small blood vessels in the gums, which prevents as much oxygen getting through to them. Efficient delivery of oxygen is essential to maintain a healthy immune system. If the immune system is compromised, then it stops the body from fighting off infection easily.

Since gum disease is caused by a proliferation of bacteria on the gums, this is not good news for smokers. This means that smokers are not only at a higher risk of developing gum disease, the condition is likely to advance more rapidly and be more aggressive.

The oral problems that are associated with smoking are just the beginning. We are all aware of the connection between smoking and cancer. Some of the other conditions that are associated with the mouth and smoking are – bad breath, stained teeth, tooth loss, loss of teeth, receding gums, mouth sores and so on. Now that you know the link between smoking and gum disease, this is another reason that you should stub out those cigarettes and become an ex-smoker as soon as possible.

 
Gum Disease: The Basics

The leading cause of gum disease is the growth of bacteria in your mouth and around the gum line. This bacteria causes toxins and plaque to grow on your teeth and this plaque continues to grow and extend down into the gum line. This leads to infection and the start of gingivitis and eventually periodontitis.

 
Poor oral hygiene is usually what causes bacteria levels to shoot up in your mouth. When you forget to brush, or don’t do it effectively, then you are leaving bits of food and particles in your mouth and this encourages bacteria to breed there as they feed off these morsels. By brushing, flossing and using a mouth rinse you are eradicating much of the bacteria that grow in your mouth and this prevents conditions such as gingivitis and periodontitis from occurring.

 
By using either commercial or natural toothpaste, such as OraMD, each day after you have eaten, you are able to get rid of a lot of the left over food particles and get rid of bacteria. You should first start by flossing your teeth to dislodge the bits of food that get stuck between teeth, then brush your teeth thoroughly and finish up with a recommended mouth wash. OraMD is a great choice for toothpaste as it contains natural ingredients which act to kill the bacteria. Your mouth wash should also be alcohol free as the alcohol in some rinses can upset the Ph balance of your mouth. OraMD can actually be used as paste and as a rinse.

 
In addition to your oral health routines, there are some lifestyle factors and health issues that can also influence your likelihood of developing gum disease. Some of these risk factors are:

• Smoking – smoking has many dire health effects and gum disease is just one of them. Avoid many of them by quitting the habit as soon as possible.
• Hormonal upheaval – times of hormonal change can also lead to gum disease. Examples of these periods includes – menstruation, pregnancy, puberty and menopause.
• Diet/nutrition – If you are eating too much sugar and processed foods in your diet, then you are likely to experience gum disease. Conversely by eating well, you can protect yourself from developing gum disease.
• Medications – there are certain medications that can increase the chance of getting gum disease. Some of these include some arthritis, high blood pressure and birth control medications. If you are concerned, talk to your doctor.

Conclusion

There are many different risk factors to be aware of when it comes to gum disease. If you are aware of the causes and make sure that you look after your oral health routine at home, then you can often avoid the condition occurring in your mouth.

Brushing twice a day, flossing and using mouth wash are the three steps that can protect your overall tooth and gum health well into the future.

Gum disease generally has two stages – the first stage is known as gingivitis. This stage is totally reversible with a check up and clean at the dentist and good home oral care. If you allow the condition to progress to the second stage you will need more serious intervention at the dentist, which may include surgical procedures, and there are serious consequences for your health.

At the first stage the dentist can clean the teeth and gums eradicating the build up of bacteria in the mouth. They flush away the bacteria at the root of the tooth under the gum line and can restore the gum health. This treatment is generally done in two stages – first cleaning one part of the mouth and then the other. This procedure however, will be worthless if you do not maintain good oral hygiene at home afterwards.

In the second stage of gum disease there are non-surgical and surgical procedures that may be performed. One of the procedures is known as flap surgery and it involves pulling back the gum flaps around the base of the tooth to clean out the bacteria and plaque there. It is then stitched back into place around the teeth. There may also be tissue grafts done where new tissue grows to repair the damaged gum tissue. Laser therapy is another option, which is able to reshape the gum and laser the infected gum tissue.

Prevention is always better than a cure, so if you can prevent getting the condition at all through proper oral hygiene or catch the condition in the early stages, then you will not have to endure the more invasive techniques to overcome gum disease.

The part that you play in preventing the condition from developing in the first place and detecting it early on if you do develop it is – following a consistent dental routine at home and knowing what the symptoms are so that you can spot it before it has advanced.

One of the most obvious signs is bleeding gums when you brush or floss your teeth. Often you can also notice red or swollen sections of the gums. Bad breath that is difficult to get rid of, even with frequent tooth brushing, is another key symptom of gum disease and a hint that it is time to visit the dentist.

A more serious sign of the condition is loose teeth. This happens when the gums are becoming seriously weakened by the condition and can no longer support the teeth effectively. A specialist dentist is able to determine the degree of damage that has been done and can recommend the best treatment plan to reverse the damage.

If the condition of the gums and the extent of the disease is not too serious, then treatment may be as simple as stepping up your dental hygiene at home with regular brushing, flossing and using a mouth rinse.

There are also some natural items that you can include in your diet to improve your gum health. Foods that are high in antioxidants can assist with relieving symptoms of the condition. Some of the useful foodstuffs may be – green tea, peppermint and cranberry juice. Tea tree is another natural substance that may be able to assist with gum health, but this is to be used topically on the gums rather than being consumed.

More serious symptoms may require more drastic treatment. Advanced gum disease may require surgical procedures to get rid of the diseased gum tissue and bacteria. Surgical treatments may include flap surgery, which pulls back the gums and removes the plaque hiding around the base of the tooth. Laser therapy is a recent technique that can also be very effective at getting rid of the gum disease.

 
Gum Disease – Description and Characteristics

Gum disease is a condition that is also known as periodontal disease. It affects the healthy gum tissue and symptoms can be mild or severe. Bacteria are the main cause of this condition as it leads to a build up of plaque in the mouth. If plaque is left to fester under the gum line and around the root of the tooth, then this causes the gums to erode and teeth to become loose and eventually fall out. When plaque and tartar are covering the teeth, then the treatment generally becomes a little more intensive.

 
Gum disease can generally be divided into two stages – the first being gingivitis and the second being periodontal disease. Gingivitis is the initial stage and this is relatively easy to treat. The more advanced stage is periodontal disease, where you will require the assistance of your dentist in addition to a good home oral health routine to overcome the condition.

 
When you have gingivitis you may notice bad breath that does not go away even right after brushing and swelling or red gums and some bleeding when you brush your teeth.  When gingivitis is allowed to progress it deteriorates the gum health and becomes periodontal disease. When there is periodontal disease, there is some serious infection that may even end up affecting the bones.

 
Treatment

In the early stages of gum disease, when you have gingivitis, the dentist will simply do a thorough deep clean of the teeth and gums to remove plaque and any tartar that is causing the problem. When you combine this treatment with a good home oral health routine, you should be able to restore your gum health. If the infection has spread then you may require tooth planing, flap surgery, laser therapy or gum grafting to help with the eradicating the infected tissue.

 
Best Method to Avoid Gum Disease

Adopting a good oral health care approach at home is the single best way for you to protect your teeth and gums from disease and decay. If you look after them by brushing carefully at least twice a day, then you will experience good oral health long into the future. You can also use additional products such as OraMD to assist with killing the bacteria that causes gum disease.