Cna anything be done to help with gum problems?
Q. Hi, I am 47 and first experienced gum problems in my 30s following having children. I consulted my then dentist about bleeding gums and have always had regular check ups, but all he told me to do was floss and brush. I was already brushing after each meal and flossing too, but the gums got worse. The recession also worsened, but he did not refer me to a periodontist (at that time I did not realise that you could see a gum specialist!). I think the vigorous brushing may have contributed to some of the recession. Some years later when seeking orthodontic treatment, I was referred to a periodontist and had extensive work to clean below gum line, which cured the bleeding gums. She also attempted to do a gum graft, but gave me inadequate aftercare advice and the graft failed. She subsequently carried out (from memory) 4 more grafts to the same area within a few months(very painful because tissue was taken from palate)and all failed. I am not a smoker or drinker and I am very, very careful of dental hygiene. Consequently, I now have areas of recession in my mouth which upset me greatly, as I feel they are unsightly. These are at the tops of the teeth. The pointy bits of gum between the teeth seem to be OK. I had the tooth in the area she tried to graft cosmetically reshaped, to try to make it look better, but it still looks very long (it is a canine tooth). My canine on the other side is also quite long, as is the tooth behind it. My front four teeth are ok. Oddly, I have a couple of bridges on the other side of my mouth and the recession has not occurred as much around these (I had these bridges put in because I had two teeth removed in my teens for orthodontics which were not completed). My gums seem pink and healthy. They do not bleed now. I floss and brush (with Oral B electric brush) always after eating and attend for six monthly cleaning. I think they may be still receding a little bit though – maybe through age? What I would like to know is, is there any way of making my teeth look more attractive, less long and ensuring that the recession is minimised for the future by way of cosmetic dentistry? I do not want to try another gum graft, because I feel that this is too risky and because of previous failure, I may not be a good candidate for this (also, the treatment was extremely traumatic the way it was carried out). My mother suffered from gum problems too, so I think I am just unlucky that I have inherited this predisposition from her. Sorry for the long, involved question, but I thought the background important. Can anything be done for me perhaps by way of using crowns, new bridges, veneers, etc.(assuming my gum condition is indeed stable)? Could my teeth be made to look smaller? This really does make me upset and self-conscious when smiling, so any advice would be most gratefully received. Thank you.,
A. Very difficult to give you a quick answer. You would need to be properly assessed with Xrays etc but broadly speaking….. gum disease is caused by your body reacting to the bacteria around your teeth and causing bone loss and therefore gum recession. It sounds as though you have the bacteria under control which is great. However your bone loss around your teeth allows your teeth to be more wobbly. This can increase the bone loss around your teeth if gum disease is present. To minimize this your bite needs to be as even as possible to allow the force to be distributed amongst as many teeth as possible and down their long axis. I have treated patients with “long” teeth but I would need to see you to assess whether this is possible- please contact my surgery for a free cosmetic consultation. Hope this helps
Hi there, my name is tracie, at the present moment im an nhs patient and im wanting my teeth sorting out i wont smile when people look or talk to me, when i chew i cant use my front teeth as they don’t meet up with my lower ones, they go over the top, ive asked my dentist what i can do and she just said leave them alone as your gums are not 100% perfect but ive had terrible gums all my life and nobody has said anything about in the dentistry, she also said ive got too many fillings for anybody to even assess me, how can she judge a person by this, my old dentist said the reason why ive had 2 have these fillings which were my 1st ever at the age of 26 was because of my pregnancies the babies took all my calcium from me and put veneers on my upper left 2nd n 3rd and my upper right 2nd n 3rd teeth, im 39yrs old now and my husband goes mad at me when we have family get together as im always behind the camera, we didn’t even have wedding pictures done because i wont have my photos taken or anything, please can you give me some advice as to what i could do, i don’t like locally to your surgery but if i have some advice then i may be able to do something as im getting to be a recluse because of this and cant even find a job… please can you email me back
Hi my bottom gums have started to go black. Couple of days ago I could see it around one tooth but now it’s around 4 teeth.i’M really concerned. I have quit smoking now and using corsodyl mouth wash and get to brush my teeth with. Can I resume the pink colour gum I had and what can I do to avoid gum diease or mouth cancer?? The gums look like that they have no grip of my teeth and looks like they going to fall out. I don’t feel any pain when I touch my gums but looks really disgusting.
Dear Enquirer, You need to book in to see a dentist immediately so your mind can be put at ease. Regards,
Hello, my gum on one if my top teeth is fading away and gotten worse the past 2 weeks and now my tooth is wobbly. I have a skin condition called EB and read online that it could effect gums as well, im very scared of going to the dentist about it. Is there any sort of gum surgery out there available? I am very scared of having the tooth removed as it is near the front and im already very self concious about opening mouth or smiling Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you
Go to a dentist ASAP as it could affect the other teeth, they might be able to treat the area with removing the tooth
I have very dark gums on my upper and lower gum lineand I’d like to have gum bleaching treatment in the UK. Where can I go for gum bleaching with a UK dental practice and I’d like to know if there have been any reports of side effects in the United States where it seems to have become popular? Please advise as I cannot find much info on the net. Ihave never been comfortable with my smile and feel this could help my confidence
I don’t know anything about bleaching the gums and can’t find any proper info on the web either- sorry.
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