Why Gum Disease Develops
The primary cause of gum disease is plaque. Plaque is a very sticky substance made up of lots of types of bacteria.
This means it is hard to brush away once built up on teeth. It is the same colour as our teeth (creamy white), so it is also hard to see!
Saliva can mineralise plaque and turn it into tartar (calculus), which cannot be brushed off, but a professional cleaning with a dentist or hygienist therapist will remove it.
Everyone has plaque bacteria in their mouths, to some level, depending on oral hygiene habits. If a person misses brushing plaque away in an area of their mouth, after a few days, their gum starts to become puffy and inflamed.
This is the body’s defence mechanism, trying to fight off the bacteria. It sends blood cells to the area, making their gums puffy with all the extra blood cells and therefore means they will bleed easily if touched.
At this stage, the gum disease is reversible, although if gingivitis is left untreated, it can cause gum recession (shrinkage).
Once your gum shrinks away, it cannot come back.
Gingivitis is a bit like inflating a rubber ring around each tooth. It makes it more difficult to clean your teeth at the time, but with excellent home care, once a person’s body is happy with the level of plaque present, the rubber ring will deflate, and the gum can go back to being healthy.
A visit to a dental hygienist therapist is the best way to get a diagnosis and treatment of gum disease.
If gingivitis, the first stage of gum disease, is left untreated, it can progress to another type of gum disease called periodontitis.
Periodontitis is the irreversible loss of the supporting structure of a person’s tooth.
The supporting structure is made up of gum fibres, ligaments and bone.
Other bacteria have now joined the plaque, which means the plaque bacteria can move underneath a person’s gums. This makes the natural pocket around the tooth deeper.
What’s a pocket?
Imagine your tooth is your wrist, and your sleeve is your gum circling the tooth. If you hold your sleeve tight, put your finger down your sleeve until you cannot see the tip of your finger; this is a pocket.
- When healthy, your sleeve holds tightly around your wrist and won’t let any damaging bacteria down into the pocket easily. However, this type of gum disease causes destruction of the supporting structure, so let your sleeve go a bit looser, and you’re now able to put your entire finger up your sleeve.
- This is the pocket getting deeper, so bacteria and harder deposits are building up in the pocket, which a person cannot access with a toothbrush. Without the supporting structure, your gums shrink down to the next area of support.
- Now, pull your sleeve up your arm – the part you’re revealing is the root of your tooth. Eventually, you’ll run out of sleeves to roll up. In terms of your tooth, this means that, eventually, periodontitis leads to tooth loss. Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults in the UK.
- This loss of ligaments can be measured by a dentist or dental hygienist therapist, and they can take X-rays to check for bone loss. Then, a diagnosis and treatment plan can be formed.
- There are secondary factors that can also contribute to gum disease to be considered, such as smoking, medications, diabetes (particularly uncontrolled) and family history, to name a few. Periodontitis cannot be cured, but it can be successfully managed to stop progressing and ultimately prolong the life of your teeth.
