Remember the days when your mum worried about you having tooth decay, and going to the dentist in Gloucestershire was always filled with fear about whether you would need to have fillings? That’s because when we are children, our tooth enamel is much softer, we eat more sugary snacks and aren’t so good at brushing our teeth.
As we get older, our dental needs change. In our teens and 20s, dental care tends to be about having a great smile. We have braces to straighten out our teeth and we get our teeth whitened.
Then as we hit our 40s and beyond, our dental needs change yet again. We no longer worry mostly about fillings when we go to the dentist in Gloucestershire. Instead, we worry that our teeth are starting to split or crumble away. We worry that we have developed gum disease. What’s that about?
At Implant & Ceramic Dental Studios, we know that gum disease is sneaky and silent. It is caused by the acids given off by bacterial plaque, which builds up on the teeth between brushings. Gum disease tends to become more of a problem in later life because of its cumulative effects. If you don’t follow a diligent oral health routine, the plaque on your teeth will harden into tartar after about 3 days. This can’t be removed just with brushing. It takes special tools to scrape it off, which the hygienist uses.
Gum disease starts by irritating the gums, which become inflamed and red and can start to bleed when you brush them. This is pretty easy to get under control by upping your game when you clean your teeth.
But advanced gum disease is much more difficult to treat. The later stages happen when the inflamed gums have pulled away from the teeth, creating pockets underneath them. Plaque gets under the gums and starts to eat away at the tooth roots and the bone holding the teeth in place. Teeth can eventually fall out.
That’s why dental treatment in later life can be more about replacing lost teeth than dealing with tooth decay, and why regular check-ups with your dentist in Gloucestershire are always vital, no matter your age.