Receding gums!

The dentist told me I’ve been brushing too hard. I used to brush 3 times a day and scrubbed for 10minutes on end. Still have the bad habbit but now it’s become pretty bad, think the dentist was saying my gums were all 7 and 8’s which doesn’t sound great. I’m in my mid 20’s so my OCD of having nice clean teeth has back-fired on me. I never knew gums don’t grow back! 🙁

Anyone else have this problem and dealt with it ok after they had been told they had done some damage?

I was hoping for some advice from this thread… as I have the dentist in a week or 2 and all i get from them is grief… though mine is sugar induced not OCD with a toothbrush.
My problems do come and go depending on sugar intake – at the moment I need to hit the fruit & veg more.
IIRC I heard you should brush your teeth for 2 minute… not 10!
As for brushing too hard – I’ve had 3/4 dentists over the years and they all have there own way of proper brushing… so can’t help you there.

wife was brushing to hard.. Dentist suggested a ‘leccy toothbrush which was a good christmas prezzie.. anyway it brushes for 2 minutes, has a pressure cut out and all sorts of other clever stuff. might be the way forward.

Aaaah – that would probably explain my problem too! I don’t do much sugar, but do destroy toothbrushes in pretty short order. Never realised it could cause receeding gums and had been wondering why I was having such problems.

Damn.

Got an eleccy toothbrush somewhere, will have to break it out and start using it again (didn’t have a charger point in the last house so stopped using it.)

Yeah, I got the same thing too. Overhard brushing apparently. Told me to get one of those really clever electric brushes which I’m doing.

I remember watching Suzie Perry testing them and she recommended this one.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Braun-Professional-SmartGuide-Rechargeable-Toothbrush/dp/B000RNXYQW/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I28VIB7WT427WF&colid=21IN6HVUZFL3Q

i have the same problem. is been going on for about 10 years or so, i’m 35 this year – the dentist doesn’t seem too concerned however!

best advice i can give you is to limit you sugary food intake and use an electronic toothbrush with a soft attachment, this really helped me.

I can confirm that the Braun rotary is a good brush, and that it will reduce wear and tear on your gums, but ONLY if you are sensible with it. If you are brushing for 10 minutes, and i’m guessing you’re prety damn viforous too, you WILL damage them.
sadly, your gums and teeth are not designed for wear on the lateral (side) surfaces, just on the occlusal (biting)surfaces. Add in an abrasive compound (i.e. toothpaste) and you can seriously damage your teeth if done excessively. Overall, brushing your teeth will help you to maintain them well beyond the Homosapiens design shelf life of 45 years, but you need to be sensible.
If you are having to reduce your brushing to sensible levels, but are ocncerned about whether you have ceaned them thoroughly enough, use a plaque disclosing tablet to check and satisfy your concerns.

If you’r having problems with decay, remember its not the quantity of refined/processed carbs you eat that causes the problem, but the frequency.

Heres a tongue in cheek bit of advice on decay problems. Also , are you using any sort of fluoride supplement, eg fluoride gel after brushing?

Diet for a healthy mouth
or
ìHow to ward off the Evil Decay Spiritsî

Would you like to never get another cavity? It is possible. In fact, if you follow just a few simple rules, you are almost guaranteed never to get another cavity.

Hereís how it works. Everybody has germs in their mouths. Decay happens when certain of these germs turn sugar into acid. This acid causes decay. The good guy is your saliva. The saliva neutralises the acid produced by the germs (stick around, this will get more interesting). It takes 2 hours however after having anything with sugar for your teeth to stop dissolving.

So, your teeth are dissolving for two hours after you have anything with sugar. If you have three meals a day and nothing in between, your teeth dissolve for six hours a day. They seem to cope OK with this. Every sugary snack between meals adds an extra two hours to your dissolving time. If youíve got enough fingers count up how many meals or snacks or drinks with sugar you have a day. Multiply by two (use toes as necessary) and you get how much of the day your teeth spend decaying.
If itís 10 hours or more, you may as well reserve a seat in our chair for lots of fillings.

Public enemy number one, the sugary snacks are the obvious ones like sweets lozenges, biscuits and cakes, but this also includes drinks with sugar such as soft drinks, fruit juice, coffee or tea with sugar. Did you know that a large McDonalds Coke has 22 teaspoons of sugar? Itís full of acid too, which really wrecks the teeth. A cup of juice is healthier, but still has 6-8 teaspoons. The worst snacks are those you suck on for a long time, especially sour candies which have built-in acid.
Even ìhealthyî snacks like cereal bars and dried fruit are loaded with sugar, especially those little boxes of raisins.

Before all you chocoholics jump out the window, there is a simple solution. All you have to do is bundle up all your snacks and juice and include them with the three major meals. Presto! No more decay. If you must gobble or nibble between meals some things are OK. Most dairy products, fresh fruit (not dried) and vegetables are fine to have as snacks. Meat, cheese and the like are good too. You can drink water, milk, coffee or tea unsweetened or with sugar substitute, and watered-down juices in moderation.
Fruit Juice with soda water tastes good, and has a lot less sugar and calories. Diet soft drinks and sugarless gum are sort of OK but donít overdo it.

It sounds easy and it is. The rest is up to you. Peter B. Nadin BDS

Modified and Reproduced with the kind permission of Brett Taylor DDS, Sydney Australia and Richard Ehrlich, DDS, Ontario, Canada

Drillski BDS

Toothpaste is nasty stuff. ‘Whitening agents’? You mean, bleach. And, as mentioned, it contains an abrasive compound.

I steer clear of it, just use it before going out, as it’s good for freshening the breath. Mostly just brush with water.

I smoke, and drink loads of tea, which stain the teeth. But mine are ok.

And this ‘perfectly white teeth’ nonsense is just that. Most people’s teeth are a creamy off-white. Cold white teeth are often a sign of malnutrition during infancy, or even prior to birth. Toothpaste bleaches contain flourescent chemicals, which reflect UV light, making your teeth look ‘whiter’. These chemicals are poisonous.

The key to healthy teeth and gums is more about diet, than brushing several times a day. Obviously, too much sugary stuff can damage teeth, but eating healthily is not going to cause too much damage.

Toothpaste is actually little more than a vanity product; all the gumph of brushing regularly makes you sexier etc is just bullshit marketing designed to sell you something you don’t really need. Reinforced by the image of whiter than white teeth = sexier, peddled by the media.

Brush gently after eating, to remove the sticky bits, rinse mouth with plain water.

For the record, I have never had a toothache, filling or bad tooth, ever.

The fluoride in your tooth paste does ahve a beneficial effect in reducing tooth decay, but only after many years of repetitive applications. and you’re quite right, all the brushing in the world won’t save you from decay and fillings, or worse, if you eat refined carbs more often than your teeth can stand. sadly, this is someting that many of our middle class patients refuse to grasp, and is why the youngest generation of children’s teeth are nwo gettin worse again in terms of tto h decay, despite ewhat you may hear from the chief Dental oficer, the lying f@:~{r!

Are you an actual dentist, Drillski?!! Glad to have a professional back me up!

The water in some cities, especially London, contains adequate amounts of flouride. Meaning toothpaste is more or less of no real benefit.

And the more you use, the more noxious chemicals enter the water system…

Thanks for that drillski, I might use that with some of my patients. It’s very well put. And how can you be so unkind about BC.

Drillski, i thought it was only 20 mins for saliva to neutralise the acid attack ( trying to remember lectures about stefan curves now!!). I guess if you have eaten something like a toffee which will stick to teeth then this acid attack will go on for 20 mins after the last bit of toffee has dissolved and could significantly prolong the duration, but for general foods 2 hours seems a long time. However i may be wrong and will view any corrections as part of my CPD requirement!

Banning those round toffee b**tards from tins of Quality Street will also help.*

*Awaiting a vets appointment to replace two perfectly good fillings that were destroyed by said bastard sweets. Bastards!

Drillski, i thought it was only 20 mins for saliva to neutralise the acid attack ( trying to remember lectures about stefan curves now!!).

Yup it can be, but of course it varies, as salivas ability to neutralize acidogenic activity is variable with site specific variables. and yes, two hours is prbably pretty generous, but also consider how long pieces of food debris are retained in various crevices in soem patients….I swear I found a sixpence between a pair of premolars first day back today!

The advice sheet is a little tongue in cheek, but it has helped in some cases and its a relatively non-confrontational approach. Adapt it to suit your style/banter/approach.

+The water in some cities, especially London, contains adequate amounts of +flouride. Meaning toothpaste is more or less of no real benefit.

the fluoride in your water supply is of such a low concentration that it will not affect your current decay risk directly, unlike the use of a fluoride toothpaste, so even in a fluoridated area, use a fluoride toothpaste, its worth it.
What the fluoride in your water does do, is to be incorporated into your enamel structure AS IT FORMS, before your teeth even come through into your mouth. This comes from drinking fkuoridated water up to the age of 8-9 years or so, (and even by your mother whilst carrying you!). This gives your teeth an inherently greater concentration of Fluoride ions within the calcium hydroxyapatite crystals that form 98% of the enamel of your teeth. Thsi in turn makes it a little harder ofr acid ( which is the main weapon in decay) to damage your teeth.

SADLY, there is still PLENTY of decay going on in fluoridated areas, as its not a miracle cure, it just helps a bit. from a socaial care provision point of view the difference ot makes is significant, but to the individual, nothing more than a drop in the ocean compared to teh differrence made by dietary changes.

really ought to get back to GDP-UK is suppose!!!
how much CPD can we claim for MTB sites?
Drillski