Gum Disease Treatment

Keeping our gums healthy (like remembering to floss!) is as important as keeping our teeth clean.

Keeping your gums healthy is easy:

1. Give your teeth a thorough brush twice a day (morning and night)
2. Floss your teeth at least once a day
3. Visit your friendly dentist at Shine Bright Dental for a clean and a checkup every six months.

You may need to have your teeth professionally cleaned more often than twice a year — we’ll let you know. This may be necessary if you’re a smoker or if you take certain medications.

What happens if you don’t look after your gums?

If you don’t brush, floss and have professional cleans, you may start to notice symptoms of gingivitis. Gingivitis is an inflammatory condition of the gums surrounding your teeth caused by plaque.

The first gingivitis symptoms you may notice are:

• Bleeding gums when you brush or floss
• Sore or swollen gums
• Bad breath

What should you do if you’re experiencing symptoms of gingivitis?

Please don’t ignore gum issues and hope the problem will go away! Call us to arrange a visit with one of our dentists. If you don’t treat gingivitis, there is a risk a more advanced gum disease called periodontitis will develop.

Periodontitis is more serious because it affects the structures surrounding the tooth — the ligaments that keep your teeth attached to your gum. You may lose a tooth because bacteria might harm these ligaments and the surrounding bone.

Bleeding gums are not normal so if you are experiencing any issues with your gums please come in to see us. The sooner we can see what is happening, the sooner they can treat the problem and prevent further issues.