A widely held belief is that the bacteria that live in the plaque that earn on your teeth and near or under your gums is responsible for making the condition of gum disease. This plaque is constantly forming and must constantly be removed or it will win to the detriment of our gums and teeth.
Gum disease is for all practical purposes a chronic disease. The body has defenses that may be able to slow the progression of gum disease and loss of gum tissue, but in most cases those defenses don’t seem to be enough to eradicate progression completely. Dentists and Periodontists have specialized surgical and nonsurgical treatments to help, but in about twenty percent of the population, these treatments will do small to change the long term health of the gums. (Reference: Clin Microbiol Rev. 2001 October; 14(4): 727-752. doi: 10.1128/CMR.14.4.727-752.2001. – ….current standard of care, i.e., the debridement and surgical approach, fails in about 15 to 20% of treated individuals, the so-called refractory patients.)
The bacteria that form, live and grow in plaque have to be removed. When certain species of these bacteria grow into large numbers, gingivitis and then gum disease set in. Gingivitis is merely the very beginning stage of gum disease.
Unfortunately, society has accepted the concept of the slowly receding gum line. This acceptance is evident in the phrase, “growing long in the tooth”, that is occasionally heard even in new times. For those who wish to delight in a youthful appearance, receding gum tissue is one more battlefront in that particular war.
Gum disease is a serious condition, it can lead to tooth loss. But, an increasing number of studies are pointing to the contribution of gum disease to cardiovascular problems. If gum disease is indeed caused by the bacteria in plaque then everyone should be concerned. Plaque is constantly accumulating on everyone’s teeth. There is no person that doesn’t accumulate plaque on his teeth and near his gums.
What this means is that virtually all of us are susceptible to gum disease. I’ve read that about 2% of the population appears to be immune to gum disease. Sadly, the rest of us don’t part the genes that may have caused such a superior station.
This may point to that 98% of us need to be concerned about this potential killer if not for the sake of preventing the loss of our teeth then perhaps for the sake of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. I would retract to keep my own teeth and not have to hassle with dentures or implants. Neither absolve you of taking care of your gums anyway. You would still have to continue to maintain their health.
Statistics suppose of gum disease occurring prevalently in individuals over 35 years of age. But, consider that if gum disease is a chronically progressing problem, then it must start at a much younger age. It’s just that the results are not obvious until the receded gum lines becomes more noticeable.
Therefore, whatever a person’s age, one needs to open thinking about what to do to prevent gum disease or stop the progression if it has already begun. Finally, though caring for the teeth and gums via brushing and flossing are very helpful, they can not be considered enough to stop gum disease based on the ample number of the adult population that really has gum disease.
If brushing and flossing your teeth is not enough to prevent gum disease then perhaps there are other tools that can help. At GingivitisKiller.com, I made a point of describing the additional tools that I personally utilize.
In small, we must be very diligent no matter where we are in our new state of gum health. If you haven’t seen any signs of gingivitis yet, you may very well want to work on preventing future problems. If you have seen those signs, then it is time to work on halting the progression of the disease now, before it takes away any more of your gum tissue or causes the loss of any teeth. Since it is generally believed that eroded gum tissue will not regenerate, the time to start preventing or controlling an existing case of gum disease is precisely now.
On a side note and as someone who enjoys writing about health matters, I have found the exercises of Falun Dafa to be extremely beneficial to my body’s overall health. You can read about and watch video instructions for these exercises at http://www.FalunDafa.org.
Disclaimer: This article is for information and entertainment purposes only. It does not intend to render advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have or reckon you might have gum disease or any other health problem, visit your dentist or doctor for advice, diagnosis and treatment. The USFDA has not evaluated statements about products in this article.
