Dr. Mohit Sharma

Even if you clean and floss your teeth regularly, you may have noticed a drop of blood or two dripping out from your gums. Maybe you feel that it is no big deal, but you may not be aware of the fact that bleeding gums can never be a normal symptom. Director of the Perio Arts Institute, Dr. Lisa Marie Samaha has raised an important question. Have you ever seen your scalp bleeding while brushing? If you feel that is not normal, then while brushing or flossing, if your gums bleed, you are most likely suffering from a periodontal disease which is commonly known as a gum disease.

Severe outcome of gum bleeding

Gum disease is a simple, contagious bacterial infection that can cause havoc on your oral health. For instance, if it is left untreated, it can lead to destruction of gums, erosion of jaw bones and may even cause tooth loss. Not just the oral health, bleeding gums infect the whole body. Firstly, these can cause plague that creates irritation along the gum tissue and the longer this inflammation is left untreated, the faster it spreads causing a host of illnesses ranging from allergies to cancer.

Reasons behind bleeding of gums

This disease is very common as declared by the American Academy of Periodontology in a report that says up to 80 percent of adult population is suffering from gum disease and very surprisingly, just 10 percent of this populace is aware of it. The good news here is that bleeding gums are caused due to various reasons that can be easily treated, and the condition can be improved to put a stop to bleeding of gums.

1. Inadequate oral hygiene: Though you may think that you brush your teeth twice a day and so there could be no germ build-up, it is not true. Actually, it takes only 24 to 36 hours for a healthy gum to become infected with disease. Therefore, take care of your teeth in the best possible way and floss your mouth after every meal.

2. Your diet is wreaking havoc: Processed food is not just bad for your tummy, your teeth are also going to be adversely affected with those donuts, chocolates, ice-creams and all the tempting junk food. It is always recommended to have a healthy diet comprising of fresh fruits and vegetables that are rich in calcium and vitamin C.

3. Misc. factors: Other factors like smoking, stress and anxiety can also trigger gum bleeding, and you should try to reduce them and consult a specialist if your gum health is out of control. If you wish to discuss about any specific dental problem, you can consult a specilized dentist and ask a free question.

A loss of tooth or teeth is one of the biggest dental problems that someone can face. The irony is that people consider loss of teeth to be very insignificant. But in reality loss of teeth can lead to not only cosmetic problems, but also functional problems and an unstable chewing mechanism.

Loss of teeth can lead to many problems. Some of them are:

1. Supra eruption of opposing teeth
2. Compromised efficiency of chewing
3. Adjacent teeth might drift into the space created by missing teeth
4. Food tend to accumulate between teeth, which have moved
5. Food accumulation also leads to periodontal disease and caries
6. A lopsided chewing pattern as there is loss of equilibrium in the mechanism of chewing
7. The extracted area might reveal a loss of bone height
8. Problems of the temporomandibular joints, like closed bite and TMJ osteoarthritis
9. The existing functional teeth might lead to problems due to overload
10. There are increased chances of cheek biting due to collapse of the cheek in the missing space, thus leading to functional and cosmetic problems
11. The frequency of tongue biting and ulceration might increase in the area of missing teeth or tooth

When missing teeth are replaced, one can easily restore the healthy look of the teeth and also prevent any other dental problems which are due to the missing teeth.

While replacement of the missing teeth it is of utmost importance that the equilibrium is maintained with the distribution of the forces caused by chewing. Care is also taken that the cosmetic outlook is also maintained in the treatment.  

Ideally the teeth when extracted or lost should be immediately replaced. This is because the replacement prevents the bone resorption or bone loss in the area and also retains the good bone. But a drawback is that such an immediate replacement might lead to limitation. Immediate treatment is usually done with the help of implants which easily fit in the sockets created by extraction. But even for this an analysis of the bone and gum health is necessary, thus leading to only a few instances for such replacements. Other alternative is that immediate removable dentures can be prepared and these can be replaced once the gums of the area have healed. The time period for this is usually 3 months. If these need to be fixed permanently then a waiting period of 3 months is mandatory for the settling and healing of the gums and bone of the area.

The 3 basic ways of fixing missing teeth are through implants, fixed bridgework (bridges and crowns) and dentures, which can be removed.