Your smile is a marriage between your gums and your teeth. When you smile, you are not only exposing your teeth but also your gums. The way your gums look can also affect your appearance. Consult the dentist, he/she will tell you that the color of your gums should be a healthy pink and not black or dark red.

3 Major Gum Problems

The following are detailed problems that one can experience with relation to their gums:

  1. Gummy Smile

A gummy smile exposes the way your gums look. Although it is not a medical condition (unless you have bleeding or receding gums), it could be a skeletal anomaly, where the teeth look small showing off the crown of your teeth. This makes the smile look disproportionate. However, a dentist practicing in dental cosmetics or aesthetics (Prosthodontist or Orthodontist) could guide you towards getting a more proportionate smile.

     2. Gum Recession

The major cause of gum recession is gum infection. Here, bacteria attack the teeth and settle in little nooks and crannies known as pockets. If the bacteria are not removed, they continue to erode the teeth and gums. In such cases, the margin of the gum tissue, which surrounds the teeth, pulls back, exposing the tooth or the tooth’s root. Hence, the tooth takes on a longer, pointed dimension. Further deterioration causes gaps to be formed in your teeth like little tunnels to your mouth. This may seem funny to an onlooker but for the person suffering, it is gruesome. Some of the major causes of gum recession are:

  • Aggressively attacking your teeth with the toothbrush weakens the gums causing them to recede. Avoid brushing and flossing your teeth aggressively.
  • Chewing Tobacco weakens the gums as well.
  • When there is a severe lack of Vitamin C in your diet, you are prone to Scurvy, which causes gum disease.
  • Do you grind and clench your teeth? Do you suffer from Bruxism? If so, then this also puts pressure on your teeth leading to gum recession.
  • Hereditary is another major cause for gum recession.

     3.  Bleeding Gums

When plaque builds up along the gum line, it leads to gingivitis (inflamed gums). This leads to bleeding of gums. Bleeding gums can also give your teeth a red tinge, which makes your smile very unattractive.

  • Bleeding gums can occur if you brush your teeth vigorously or during flossing.
  • During pregnancy, the woman’s body undergoes many hormonal changes, which can increase gum sensitivity. This could cause the gums to bleed.
  • Use of common items like safety pins or toothpicks to dig out food particles from your teeth is a BIG NO-NO. Don’t pick your teeth! Floss them instead.

Your smile is a package, which includes your teeth and gums. If a person neglects their gums, even the perfect smile will fade into the background with imperfect blackish gums. So, the next time you feel the need to cover your mouth when you smile, it’s time to pay a visit to your dentist and rectify that gummy smile!

Although your dentist is always available to help you, but remember that man-made solutions are not permanent. Therefore, it makes more sense to adopt proper oral hygiene habits and display healthy pink gums along with a dazzling smile! So, before your teeth begin to look like Dracula’s fangs, a visit to the best Periodontist in Mumbai is advisable. Laughter is a God-given gift to humankind, so increase your face value and strike a good first impression. BE IN THE PINK OF HEALTH!