Receeded gums

longwalks1

at 37 my gums are quite receeded (my own fault) and i was wondering if there is anything i can do or get to help them in any way at all? (other than the obvious clean them properly, which my dentist tells me, and I now do). Theyre not really bad, but i know they're not as good as they can be. Not expecting miracles, just wondered if theres anytihng that may help, even a tiny bit

Toothsmith

Assuming its caused by gum disease, then better brushing will stop it but not bring the gums up again. That would need the intervention of a periodontal specialist and possibly gum surgery.

If the cause is something like tooth grinding or overzealous brushing, then it will also require surgery, but you will need the factors causing that to be dealt with as well!

Speak to your dentist about it and ask him what you think the options are for getting the results you want.

Treatments will be private.

EDIT -If the recession is not too bad, then I really would avoid surgery. Just accept it and get the causes worked out and felt with.

A.Penny.Saved

Common pathogenic bacteria can be the underlying cause, diet and not doing all you can to stop the effects of the bacteria ie cleaning can contribute to the problem.

Look at biofilms (plaque) and tackling them because there are substances which can break up and inhibit biofilm formation. You could also get some competing bacteria to keep the bacteria in check and help reduce their numbers when they are able. There are supplements in the form of mints which have relatively small amounts of useful bacteria such as probiotic smile and similar which are the bad guys enemies.

The bacteria can be cultured and I made them into a yoghurt in order to increase their numbers. Cleaning your teeth helps reduce plaque which bacteria use to protect themselves and taking some of the competing bacteria immediately after might give them some free space to take up residence which should put them closer to the ones you don't want in your mouth.

Enzymes can also break up biofilms. It's a question of how far you want to go to tackle the cause. Getting to them is the hard part. If you only ever have the problem in your mouth then you will be a very lucky person. Biofilms contribute to a very wide range of health problems, most of which is yet unrecognised and unknown.

Toothsmith

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

Common pathogenic bacteria can be the underlying cause, diet and not doing all you can to stop the effects of the bacteria ie cleaning can contribute to the problem.

Look at biofilms (plaque) and tackling them because there are substances which can break up and inhibit biofilm formation. You could also get some competing bacteria to keep the bacteria in check and help reduce their numbers when they are able. There are supplements in the form of mints which have relatively small amounts of useful bacteria such as probiotic smile and similar which are the bad guys enemies.

The bacteria can be cultured and I made them into a yoghurt in order to increase their numbers. Cleaning your teeth helps reduce plaque which bacteria use to protect themselves and taking some of the competing bacteria immediately after might give them some free space to take up residence which should put them closer to the ones you don't want in your mouth.

Enzymes can also break up biofilms. It's a question of how far you want to go to tackle the cause. Getting to them is the hard part. If you only ever have the problem in your mouth then you will be a very lucky person. Biofilms contribute to a very wide range of health problems, most of which is yet unrecognised and unknown.

Biofilms are important, but this post is very confused as to the causes, and probiotics - particularly the mints mentioned would do nothing to help oral biofilms!

Good cleaning is the only way to sort out the problem, and from what the dentist of the OP says, this seems to be sorted out already.

When I googled those mints, the small print at the bottom of the advert I found even stated that they were not offered as a cure for any particular problem! The advert was worded very cleverly to infer that they worked miracles without actually making any verifiable claims!