How to Stop Receding Gums

When your gums start to pull away from your teeth, you have what’s called receding gums. There are a number of things that can cause your gums to do this. Bruxism (aka grinding your teeth), injury, genetics, not brushing regularly, and even brushing too hard can all lead to receding gums.

Once you’ve noticed that your gums are pulling away from your teeth, what can you do? This is, fortunately, a reversible issue if you know how to handle it.

Change Your Bad Habits

The first thing you can do if your gums haven’t receded too much is to change your bad habits. Start brushing and flossing regularly, learn how to brush less aggressively, and work with us to get your bruxism under control. If you can replace these bad habits with good ones, you’ll be able to stop the progression of your receding gums and help your gums heal themselves.

Come See Us

You don’t have to fight receding gums on your own. We’re here to help you. We’ll help you deal with the cause of your receding gums and look at more advanced repair options if you need them. Remember, you can always come in for a consultation even if you don’t have a major dental issue or need to have a six-month cleaning.

Other Treatment Options

If you have severe receding gums, we may have to do more than just look at your brushing habits. We may need to look at gum grafting, for example. This procedure involves removing a small amount of healthy tissue from one area and grafting onto the section of your gums that are receding. Another option is surgically going into the area to remove all of the bacteria and other debris that is causing the problems, then placing specific proteins into the area to help the tissue and bone heal.

If your gums are receding, you need to call us today to make an appointment. Like many oral health issues, the earlier we work to correct the problem, the easier it will be.