Periodontal Disease
What Causes Receding Gums
Receding gums occur when the gum tissue and bone shrink away leaving exposed roots and longer looking teeth. The exposed roots can be sensitive to temperature and sweets. And the exposed roots are much more prone to decay. Root decay often becomes a huge problem in older people.
Receding gums can create an esthetic nightmare that often times cannot be corrected. As the gums recede, the teeth look longer and longer, making victims look older. There are several factors that cause receding gums and here they are:
Gum Disease – Gum disease causes the gums and bone to shrink away, creating gum recession.
Spaces between the teeth – Spaces or gaps between the teeth can lead to food trapping which causes inflammation which causes the gums to shrink away.
Crowded teeth – Crowding can lead to the loss of gum tissue between the teeth, and can also cause some teeth to be pushed out of position so that the bone is very thin.
Aggressive brushing with a hard or medium bristle tooth brush. Only soft-bristled tooth brushes should be used.
Thin bone around the teeth – Often because of tooth crowding, or because the teeth are too big for the jaw bones, teeth are left with a very thin layer of bone on the outside. When bone is excessively thin, it is more prone to shrink away and create recession.
Muscle pulling – Sometimes muscles in the mouth attach closer to the teeth than normal, and the constant tugging of the muscle causes gum tissues to be pulled away from the teeth. This situation is easily corrected with minor surgery to move the muscle attachement.
Malocclusion – Bite problems are a huge factor in gum recession. When there are malocclusion related bite problems, excessive stresses are placed on the teeth, which may cause gum recession. In addition, malocclusion may cause the teeth to be loose and the mobility of the tooth causes recession.
Chewing Tobacco - chewing tobacco is notorious for causing the gum tissue to “strip away” from the teeth. This is particularly true when the tobacco is placed consistently in the same spot.
Treatment for gum recession involves removing the contributing factors such as fixing malocclusion, straightening crooked teeth, eliminating gum disease, and closing spaces between the teeth.
In addition, gum surgery may be needed to move the gum tissues back over the roots. There is a new procedure that some dentists are performing now called “pinhole” surgery which is less traumatic and less invasive than the older types of surgery.
The main factor that you can control is simply making sure you use a soft brush, don’t brush in an overly aggressive manner, and make sure you understand all the other factors that are causing recession and what to do about them.
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