Gum problems please help

winniepooh

I stoppped smoking about 4 months ago now. Since then my gums have been bleeding.....quite badly at time and I have 2 sore areas. I wasn't due to see my dentist until August but I was really concerned about my gums so I rang the dentists and managed to get an appointment but it wasn't with my usual dentist its a private dentist.

I'm 29 but gum problems run in the family, my brother in 35 and wears full dentures and my dad has dentures but has had gum problems for as long as I can remember.


Too cut a long story short i'm that scared i'm going to loose all my teeth now I thought i'd come on here and ask for some advice. The dentist has told me I have gum disease and quite servere measuring a 3/4 on their probe thing. They gave me a light clean and polish and a scan but they what to refer me to a hospital for a review. They have given me anti biotics to take and have told me to corsadol. They said there maybe a long waiting list for the hospital. i'm scared that this problem is going to get much worse before I get an appointment.


So i'm after tips on how to try and control (if you can). Any tips at all. I'm so frightened that I think I walked out of the dentists in a daize to be honest. :eek:

Mrs_P_Pincher

I was told that when I stopped smoking my gums would get worse before they got better - and they did. Now they are better than they've ever been (and I'm smoking again!). I am 54 and have had gum disease since my teens, although no-one can tell me why.

I brush twice a day, floss in the evening, use an alcohol free mouthwash and take 100 mg CoQ10 every day. I also visit the hygienist every three months and once in a while I have a deep scale and polish under local anaesthetic. It's a pain and I have to keep on top of it, but I've only lost two teeth and it's one in the eye for the dentist who threw me out of his surgery 12 years ago refusing to treat me and saying that in 10 years time I wouldn't have any teeth!

After five years of this regime some of my 3/4s are now showing 2/3 and nothing is getting worse.

I'm with Denplan and pay something like £17 per month, which I don't notice as I pay by direct debit and that covers pretty much all my treatment.

Try not to panic. Gum disease is very common and a good dentist will work with you to manage it.

Mrs P P

londoner1998

hello!
I subscribe to all of Miss Penny P's tips. It is very important you keep on top of it. Eat well, plenty of fruit and veg, you need the vitamines. Stay away from the cigarrettes and alcohol, and also avoid sugary stuff. Since I had my upper wisdoms out two years ago, I have been very scrupulous with my dental hygiene, and it really shows. I do like Penny P does and I find that the flossing is fundamental- two days without it and my gums start bleeding. But do follow your specialist's advice if yours are delicate at the moment. Finish the antibiotics and remember that if you are using Corsodil, it stains your teeth dreadfully. My dentist recommended salty (boiled) warm water instead (even though he sold Corsodil himself in the surgery) - it keeps your gums clean very nicely and doesn't dry your mouth like the Corsodil does. I also use an ayurvedic power - Vico- It is all natural herbs used for their antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and very cheap. I use it as an overhaul if I have neglected my routine a bit, and once every week or two (just rub on the gums for a couple of minutes, leave it on for about five and the rinse). I get it in India or in the Yogamatters' website- www.yogamatters.com.

I do agree that you need to keep going to the hygienist for regular deep clean ups and maintain a thorough routine at home.
But don't worry, you are young and are dealing with it, so I woudln't panic, you certainly caught it on time!

Keeping_Motivated

Do you use an electric toothbrush? My gums have improved loads since using one.

winniepooh

Thanks for all your replies. You've made me feel a bit calmer about it now. I left the dentists in tears this morning:(

Yes I use an electric tooth brush. I brush 3 times a day and use mouthwash. I also use listerine after eating aswell. I'm taking vit C & Q10.

I'm nervous about going to the hospital. Have any of you had to have an hospital appointment for this? Or do you think its because I'm young.

Toothsmith

Mrs_P_Pincher wrote: »

I am 54 and have had gum disease since my teens, although no-one can tell me why.

Because you smoke?

Toothsmith

winniepooh wrote: »

I stoppped smoking about 4 months ago now. Since then my gums have been bleeding.....quite badly at time and I have 2 sore areas. I wasn't due to see my dentist until August but I was really concerned about my gums so I rang the dentists and managed to get an appointment but it wasn't with my usual dentist its a private dentist.

I'm 29 but gum problems run in the family, my brother in 35 and wears full dentures and my dad has dentures but has had gum problems for as long as I can remember.


Too cut a long story short i'm that scared i'm going to loose all my teeth now I thought i'd come on here and ask for some advice. The dentist has told me I have gum disease and quite servere measuring a 3/4 on their probe thing. They gave me a light clean and polish and a scan but they what to refer me to a hospital for a review. They have given me anti biotics to take and have told me to corsadol. They said there maybe a long waiting list for the hospital. i'm scared that this problem is going to get much worse before I get an appointment.


So i'm after tips on how to try and control (if you can). Any tips at all. I'm so frightened that I think I walked out of the dentists in a daize to be honest. :eek:

By giving up smoking, you've done the biggest thing you can to help save your teeth.

I can't say if it's been caught in time or not without seeing you - but if it can be turned around, then good cleaning by you, regular hygienist/dental appointments and staying off the fags are all vital.

Gums often seem to get worse a few weeks after giving up - but that's not the case.

The nicotine in the plaque up against your teeth acts as a slow-release poison. This cuts down the blood supply to the area around your gums and starves them of oxygen - accelerating any tissue/bone loss in the area.

When you stop - the nicotine runs out and a blood supply comes back to the area. This then means that the inflamed gums bleed again - which they wouldn't have been doing before.

Ideally, the gums would not be bleeding. It's a sign of inflammation and gum disease after all. But that bleeding SHOULD have been happening beforehand, it was just being masked because of the lack of blood in the tissues.

As you and the dentist get to grips with things - this will lessen.

I'm not sure why you'll have been referred to the hospital - it may well be because you're very young to have advanced gum disease (Which is what it will be with scores of 3 or 4 all round.) But You'll find out when you go.

It's always a good idea to write down a list of questions before you go to these places. It can be an intimidating experience, and you can easily forget some of the things you wanted to ask. Don't be afraid to write down some of the answers as well. Again - it's easy to forget.

The most important thing though is to stay off the ciggys. If you go back to them, it won't be so much a question of if you need dentures, but when.

Mrs_Money

I second the advice about electric toothbrushes (and so do my 2 most recent dentists) plus all the flossing and mouthwash etc, but the electric toothbrush is the best investment for your teeth that you can make - apart from good dentistry of course!
Plus when you use it, keep the brush still over the flat surface of each tooth for 3 seconds, then over the place where tooth joins gum for 3 seconds - it's supposed to improve gum health very quickly.
Don't panic and don't give up - you can manage this problem.

larmy16

Toothsmith. May I ask if there are smokers who do not get gum disease and if not why?

You see a lot of celebrities who are heavy smokers eg. Kate Moss/Jodie Marsh and they have gleaming white teeth and full gums, not receding. I appreciate that they are probably veneers on their teeth and they can afford to have them replaced as and when.

What makes one smoker vulnerable to gum disease and yet another not? Is is hereditary and in your genes to some extent? Also what is the minimum time for untreated gingivitis to go to full blown gums receding gum disease. Sorry a lot of questions I know.:o

Essex_Maid

Most important thing is you have taken action! My sister had this prob, and the dentist just fobbed her off for a couple of years. Different dentist referred her to a hospital, she had to wait a while, but the treatment is free and it is been a lot of appointments BUT treatment is working, and she is a lot older than you.

Toothsmith

98% of the population have 'gum disease' to one degree or another. Frm on little bleeding bit of gum against a single tooth to gross generalised bone loss and teeth swaying around in the breeze.

Kate & Jodie good teeth? - Not if you know what you're looking for, and see 'in the raw' shots rather than digitally enhanced ones.

Anything to do with the body affects one person differently to another - be it something bad for you or something good for you.

Smoking affects the gums of the vast majority of people who do it to one degree or another, and it's usually a pretty high degree.

Who can say what factors are at play when it affects one person more than another? - It's likely to be many factors really.

Smoking though is responsible for the death of half the people who do it, and very very few of them go to the grave with all their teeth!