What Are The Warning Signs Of Gum Disease?

We all love to have clean and healthy gums, don’t we? But at the same time, we must put time and effort into ensuring that our gums stay clean and healthy, as they can be prone to many problems/diseases. As they always say, prevention is better (cheaper) than cure. With that, here is a list of warning signs of oncoming or potential gum disease (also called periodontitis) to watch out for: 

• Inflammation – Most gum diseases cause one’s gums to be quite puffy and swollen during most parts of the day.

• Painful gums – One might experience constant pain in the gums, especially during chewing, talking, and even drinking.

• Stinky breath – Any and all gum disease causes a terrible odor from the gums and mouth, which seems to never go away.

• Bleeding gums – One’s gums will begin to bleed easily with no effort if it is diseased, such as when one is chewing; they might even spit out blood after brushing or flossing.

• Sensitive gums – The gums tend to be more sensitive and tender to touch and feel, with sensations ranging from raw pain to mild tingling when consuming cold, hot or sugary items such as ice creams, coffees, and sweets.

• Pus formations – There will be a little amount of pus that seeps out from your gums and in between your teeth, which is a sure sign of open and/or healing wounds.

• Discolored gums – The gums might appear to be in a dark red, bright pink, dark purple, full black, or pale yellow color, and this is one of the most common signs of gum disease.

• Loose teeth – When you grind your teeth together or bite down on them, one might notice that the roots of the teeth connected to the gums are a bit loose, making the set of teeth detach from each other, become loose, or even fall off, in serious cases.

• Gaps between teeth – Since the gums are infected, they turn into a mushy state and begin to deform, affecting the teeth, too, as they start to develop new spaces between each other.

• Misshapen teeth – As mentioned before, the diseased gums start to affect the teeth too, and since the gaps begin to form, it also results in the teeth being deformed as the gum infection will spread to the root canal and will also decrease the durability of the gums and the nerves that are connected to the teeth.

What do I do when I come across any of these warning signs?

Most of the people, when they come across even the early warning signs of oncoming gum disease, they tend to ignore it as they feel it is temporary and isn’t that significant.

But on a serious note, it is very much necessary to immediately go and make a quick visit to the nearest professional dentist’s clinic as gum disease sure is common but not spoken about much because it’s been neglected by people all over the world by thinking that it isn’t anything serious.

Almost all dentists will stress on the importance of having a regular, consistent, and clear schedule of oral hygiene and will advise you on how to take care of your teeth, but most of them don’t really elaborate on what will happen if we don’t or fail to take care of our oral health. 

Hence, brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day is a great way to ensure that your teeth, gums, tongue, and entire mouth are always clean and top-notch.