YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Popular FAQs

What is Gum Disease?

Gum disease is inflammation and bleeding of the gum around a tooth. Gingivitis is inflammation and bleeding around the teeth in general i.e., more than one tooth.

Gingivitis can be reversed with good dental cleaning which includes brushing, flossing, and using other dental aids such as inter dental brushes. If gingivitis is left untreated periodontal disease will, in most situations, develop.

Is periodontal disease the same as gum disease?

Yes. Periodontal disease occurs when the build-up of bacteria and food debris has been present for a long time and causes breakdown of the gum tissue and the creation of ‘pockets’, which are basically a gap between the gum and the tooth. This pocket fills up with bacteria and debris and a coating emerges over the surface of the root of the tooth called the biofilm. It is onto this film that the bacteria and debris adhere. This film cannot be effectively removed with water alone. This is, however, only part of the story. The breakdown of the tissue is actually caused by your own body’s defences (white blood cells) which are triggered by the bacteria (dysbiotic bacteria) that develop on the teeth. Periodontal disease can never be reversed. It can only, at best, be stopped from developing further.

How do I get gum disease?

The initial cause is a lack of thorough cleaning of the teeth, which leads to gingivitis – which can be reversed with good cleaning – allowing bacteria and food debris to accumulate around the teeth. There are other factors such as smoking that make this worse.

What causes periodontal disease to develop, however, is not just the build-up of bacteria and food debris that is not cleaned away, but also your body’s response to the bacteria. This is why we see patients with poor oral hygiene and no gum disease (not common, but occasionally) and other patients with immaculate dental hygiene, who still have active periodontal disease and associated tissue breakdown. In summary, it’s not always your fault!

What are the symptoms of gum disease?
  • Bleeding gums (blood in the sink after brushing)
  • Bad taste
  • Metallic taste
  • Bad breath (halitosis)
  • Mobile teeth
  • Infection (abscess)
Why does normal brushing not cure periodontal disease effectively?

Because you are cleaning above the gum line. The problem is under the gum line, in the ‘pockets’ that your toothbrush simply can’t reach.

What happens if I have gum disease and it is not treated?

Not a lot will happen for a few years, as periodontal disease is not painful and takes quite a long time to become so. You will gradually lose more and more support for the teeth over time. The process is a slow and insidious one (you won’t know it’s happening) and you will not be aware of the problem.

In the later stages you may notice a bit of mobility in one or two teeth. This will eventually get worse, and teeth will need to be removed. You cannot ever make the tissues grow back. There is no ‘magic treatment’.

Once the tissues supporting the teeth have been destroyed you will lose the teeth, which is why the key to treating gum disease is to prevent it developing in the first place, or stop it from advancing if it has already developed.

Is gum disease associated with other health issues?

Periodontal disease is strongly associated with cardiac disease (heart attacks). This is caused by the bacteria found in periodontal disease affecting the cardiac arteries.

The mouth is the gateway to our bodies. Disease and infection at the start will affect digestion and other body systems. There is a lot of work being undertaken which is looking at dementia and motor neurone diseases and the dysbiotic bacteria found in periodontal disease. Astonishingly, these bacteria have been found in the brain tissue of patients afflicted with diseases such as dementia.

Can gum disease be cured?

The simple answer is, for gingivitis: Yes. For periodontal disease: no.

How is gum disease treated?

Conventional treatment will include visiting the dental hygienist so that the teeth and the pockets can be cleaned. Sometimes the hygienist or dentist will insert an antibiotic gel into the pocket.

This helps but the pockets are only clean immediately after the cleaning and for a few more days after which, because there is a pocket present, will naturally fill back up with bacteria and debris, and so the cycle of inflammation re-starts. This is why cleaning must be achieved under the gum at home.

What happens if gum disease is not treated?

You could suffer from bad breath, loose or painful teeth, and their subsequent removal. It takes years for this to happen but once you get there, nothing will help. Teeth cannot magically be made better or re-fixed. The harm has been done and the end result is loss of the teeth.

What happens to my teeth if I have gum disease?

If gum disease is left untreated you will most probably lose your teeth. Patients with periodontal disease start to see problems from around 50 years of age. Some have issues before this, but mostly this is a problem that affects you in middle age and after.

Does gum disease cause tooth decay?

No. Gum disease destroys the tissues that support the teeth. Dental decay is the destruction of the tooth by acid and bacteria which affect the mineral composition of the tooth.

What is dysbiotic bacteria?

Dysbiotic bacteria is bacteria that are present in a part of the body where they should not be expected to be present, and which trigger a body defence mechanism, otherwise seen as ‘bad’ bacteria for that body site.

What is commensal bacteria?

Commensal bacteria are bacteria which are expected to be in that site in the body and therefore classed as ‘good’ bacteria for that site.