4 Symptoms of Gum Disease and How to Care for Gumsperiodontist Seunghan Bae

1. Symptoms of Gum Disease

Normally, you have healthy gums, but when foreign substances such as tartar form, the gums swell and if left untreated, the gum bone gradually melts away. That's why your teeth will shake later. This process happens very slowly. So even if you think that's fine, it can get worse overnight.

When you brush your teeth, your gums may bleed or bleed once or twice. But it doesn't hurt when it bleeds, so I don't go to the dentist. But if you bleed once or twice, you have gum disease. Also, there are people who have sore teeth when brushing their teeth. In fact, you can say that gum disease is at the beginning of the disease. And if your gums feel like they're swollen, it's possible that they're actually inflamed. If your gums are tickling, it's also an early symptom of gum disease. So, if you feel one or two of these four symptoms, you should definitely see your dentist.

2. Types of gum treatments

But what's scary about gum disease is that usually when the gum disease is severe, it feels like it's swollen and it hurts, but it doesn't hurt again. So you think it's a temporary phenomenon and wonder if I'm not feeling well, or if my immunity is low. Normally, I don't get sick all the time, I get better and then I get sick and then I get sick all the time. Periodontal disease is the most frightening thing. If it hurts and it doesn't hurt, we don't go to the dentist. It's actually festering inside. If you've been sick once or twice, you're going to have inflammation inside.

So how do you treat your gums? There are many ways to treat your gums. The simplest one starts with scaling, followed by root planing and gum treatment called periodontal planing. There are also surgical options. There is gum treatment, in which the gum bone is transplanted to strengthen the gum bone. If that doesn't work, I may trim my gums a little and treat my gums. The most basic thing here is scaling. You must get this.

Here's a quick rundown of scaling. Often, people ask if scaling should not be done because the space where the clumps of tartar used to be falls out and makes holes. That's because you don't scale often. If you scale frequently, you won't get a hole in itself.

The difference between scaling and gum treatment is that scaling removes inflammation or tartar from the tooth part of the gum, the part of the gum that is at the top of the gum. However, gum treatment also removes tartar or inflammation from the lower part of the gum. Of course, it will hurt because the equipment goes all the way to the bottom. That's why this gum treatment is often done under anesthesia.

3. Cost of gum treatment

Among gum treatments, there are two treatments called root planing and periodontal planing. You can think of both as similar non-surgical gum treatments, and both are covered by health insurance. Therefore, the cost is approximately 15,000~30,000 won. That's why I'm saying that the more gum treatments you do, the better

4. Take care of your gum health

Next, I will explain the habits that make gums better. First of all, if you have a lot of inflammation in your gums or if you are middle-aged in your 50s or older, you should use a toothbrush that is soft but has fine bristles. Brushing your teeth with a soft toothbrush with fine bristles really helps. If you use a hard toothbrush, your teeth will grind and your gums will be irritated, causing you to bleed a lot. Therefore, brushing with a soft toothbrush is better for people with gum disease.

An electric toothbrush also helps. There was a paper on the brushing effect of electric toothbrushes and conventional toothbrushes. In fact, an electric toothbrush doesn't fall apart compared to a regular toothbrush. So, if you're not sure, buy an electric toothbrush and hold it between your teeth and gums, which will help you a lot. Don't forget to use an interdental brush. If it doesn't go in, don't force it in.

And then there's oil pulling. Oil pulling is gargling with oil. For example, olive extra virgin oil, coconut oil, etc. But oil pulling doesn't do as much for your gums as brushing. However, just because it's a home remedy doesn't mean you have to do it. Also, there's a salt brushing. Let me put it simply, there's some kind of salting salt on the market. Brushing your teeth with something like that can help. However, this salt brushing is not recommended because it can hurt your gums if you do it incorrectly. However, it has a sterilizing effect, so if you do it a little, If it helps and you don't feel confident doing it right, you can just gargle with salt water. The bottom line is that salt brushing and oil pulling can help if done right, but you need to know exactly how to do it.