gingivitis?

[coconut lime]

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so i finally went to the dentist after TWO years....and was told i have gingivitis. apparently my gums are really red and bleed a lot when i brush. crap! can someone explain to me what gingivitis really is? i brush twice a day (w/electric toothbrush), floss nightly, and use the good multicare toothpaste. how does this happen? how can i prevent it? how can i get rid of it? what are the implications??

thanks!

 

[12YearOldKid]

so i finally went to the dentist after TWO years....and was told i have gingivitis. apparently my gums are really red and bleed a lot when i brush. crap! can someone explain to me what gingivitis really is? i brush twice a day (w/electric toothbrush), floss nightly, and use the good multicare toothpaste. how does this happen? how can i prevent it? how can i get rid of it? what are the implications??

thanks!

Gingivitis is just like any other -itis. You have a festering pit of bacterial infection in your mouth and your body doesn't like it. Get rid of the bacteria; that is, brush and floss correctly and it should be cleared up in a week or so.

Ask either your dentist or your hygienist to evaluate your brushing and teach you how to do it right. I know that sounds silly, but you would be surprised at the number of normal, intelligent people who have just never been taught how to brush their teeth.

I thought it was ridiculous when my school insisted that we watch every new patient brush their teeth at least once and then give instructions. But from that experience I would say only about 25% of people brush correctly, 50% have sloppy/clumsy technique, and 25% suck the toothpaste off the brush and think it's doing something for them.

Barring something really strange going on, that's all it should take. 🙂

 

[ItsGavinC]

Good post and good advice. It isn't hard to remedy that gingivitis, but you don't want it progressing to periodontitis.

 

[Zurik5]

How significant are GIs? I’ve never seen my dentist take one, and just from a few days in clinic, it seems like a pretty worthless procedure for normal, health gingiva?

 

[ryche22]

would a scaling/root planing help?

i had to get rid of mad subgingival calculus via root planing in order for my gums to be normal.

that was the first time i was at the dentist in 9 years i think... 😱

 

[KY2007]

ItsGavinC you have to remember that not all gingivitis or even most gingivitis will progress to periodontitis. The numbers quoted at my school were around 1/3 of the population has the genetic predisposition for periodontitis.