There are few things scarier than discovering you have a potentially life-threatening disease or health condition. Practically everyone understands the risks and implications of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, birth defects, and various systemic diseases. However, most people wouldn’t even consider gum disease to be among the top serious bodily ailments. Gingivitis is far more than a big word used in advertising to sell toothpaste, it’s the beginning of a potentially chronic or even fatal illness that can be easily treated or reversed if caught early enough. Your biomimetic dentist in Moorestown can readily diagnose and correct the issue before it becomes problematic. But gum disease can actually be prevented altogether by simply following a few simple tips.
Be Aware of and Adjust to Risk Factors
Bacteria thrive on specific conditions that are all-too-often self-induced. A poor diet or excessive sugar intake provides extra acids that eat away at enamel and help provide hiding places to store stubborn plaque and breeding bacteria. Smoking reduces saliva and enzymes needed to wash away and permanently remove harmful bacteria. Age, medications, and even genetics can all play a part and increase the risks of developing gum disease. Knowing your personal risk factors and adjusting wherever possible go a long way to avoiding gum disease and potentially dangerous complications linked to the condition.
Practice and Maintain Proper Oral Health Habits
Gingivitis is the earliest stage of gum disease, and it usually has a very simple cause: poor oral health care habits. Red and inflamed gums, extra sensitivity along the gum line, and even cracked or bleeding tissue are easy symptoms to brush off. But they are important warning signs that trouble’s brewing. Fortunately, getting back into the habits or creating new ones is easy. Brush your teeth twice a day with a soft toothbrush. Floss between teeth once a day to remove stubborn or stuck food. Rinse with a natural mouthwash or rinse to help remove extra plaque. And drink plenty of water daily to encourage saliva and enzymes to replenish the mouth and keep the bacteria at bay. Gum disease is completely reversible if caught early enough at this stage. Proper home dental habits and visiting your dentist to ensure further treatment isn’t necessary are the keys to ensuring gingivitis doesn’t advance.
Visit Your Dentist Regularly
Almost half of American adults over the age of 30 and 70% of seniors over the age of 65 have some form of gum disease. And many of those cases are suffering in silence from advanced periodontitis. This disease sneaks up on so many people due to the fact that gum disease symptoms are often hard, if not impossible, to notice until the disease is in the advanced stages. By then, painful gums, constant halitosis, loose teeth, infections, and abscesses or pus pockets are common signs of serious and irreversible trouble. That’s why scheduling dental visits twice a year is so crucial to your health and happiness. A competent, professional dentist can professionally diagnose and treat gum disease to avoid it spreading. Give your biomimetic dentist in Moorestown a call to schedule your non-invasive oral health checkup today, and have one more thing to smile about tomorrow.
