Gum Diseases: Early Intervention A Key

Gum Diseases: Early Intervention A Key

As you go for dinner in that fancy restaurant and take a big bite of your dinner, you’re also planting the seeds in your mouth for a world of bacteria that will happily take a big bite out of your gums and teeth! Not quite the imagery a dinner at a restaurant paints, is it?

Gum disease a common phenomenon the world over, even more so in demography that live in poverty. But just generally, reports have cited that as much as three our of four adults who are 35-years-old or older in the United Kingdom have a been or are currently affected by gum disease problems. That is a staggering number! In the United States too oral health is a major issue. Most adults in America, as much as 90% of those who are 40 years of age or older, suffer from tooth decay and many of them lose all their teeth by the age of 60 because it this very problem. Oral cancer patients itself are not as many in numbers as those who suffer from cavity, but it is surely more dangerous, even fatal. By 2006, more than 7,000 American were expected to die because of Oral or throat cancer alone. And at the same time, a significant number of children, starting from as early as age 2 to 15 have cavity problems.  

However, surveys and studies have shown that more people lose their teeth because of gum disease and not because of cavity or decaying teeth. So just how sever is the problem? Let’s take another example from the United Kingdom. There, reports suggest that only 40% of the 45-year-old or up age bracket of women suffer some sort of teeth loss. But it is not just the adults that are affected by gum disease. It does not take so long for the disease to take effect. While cavity and tooth decay might be a leading oral health problem for teenagers in the United States, in the United Kingdom it is estimated that as much as half the teenager population is affected by gum disease too.

Just what causes gum disease? Well the general understanding is that bacteria growth in your mouth is the leading cause. And there is not denying that. Which is why brushing your teeth once or twice daily, in the morning and the night, and flossing between teeth are considered good ways to prevent gum disease. But that’s not all. In the United Kingdom, it seems that as much as half of all gum diseases are caused by smoking or the use of tobacco. So staying away from that stuff is much emphasized because tobacco also causes many other severe problems including lung, mouth and throat cancers.

If you see any symptoms of gum diseases, the first of which are bleeding gums and change in the gum’s color to purple or sickly red, seek immediate professional help. If you don’t, it will get as worse as receding gums, gaps between teeth, weak teeth and even the formation of pus. So as soon as you sense something, get it checked out. But try your best to prevent it from ever happening by maintain a good oral health so that you can always take a big bite out of the best things in life.