If your teeth appear longer than you’re used to, or if it looks like your gums are pulling away from your teeth, you probably have receding gums. Receding gums can be caused by a few different things, the most serious of which is periodontal disease. The gums can also recede because of the way you brush your teeth, because of injury or trauma, or for any of a number of other reasons; your dentist can diagnose your receding gums and, based on the cause, work with you to treat the problem. While gum tissue can’t regrow, recession can be slowed or even stopped with treatment, including behavior modification.
If gum recession is significant, tissue grafts might be recommended. When the gums are inflamed and receding because of periodontal disease, treating the disease can help return the gum tissue to its normal state.
When the gums begin to recede, they look inflamed and the gum line appears irregular. The gums often recede slowly, which can make their changes more difficult to detect; this is one of the reasons it’s such a good idea to see your dentist for regular checkups, as they measure these sorts of things routinely and can be the first line of defense against continued damage. In addition to the visible lack of gum tissue surrounding the teeth, receding gums can cause symptoms like a bad taste in the mouth or bad breath; loose or mobile teeth; and inflamed, angry-looking gum tissue that’s visibly swollen.
Some people report that their bite is affected by receding gums, and others report pain or sensitivity in the teeth or tenderness in the gums. Even when the symptoms don’t cause discomfort, receding gums caused by periodontal disease are dangerously susceptible to bacterial growth and should be addressed. When the gums pull away from the teeth, they create deep pockets that can easily accumulate food debris and breed bacteria, in addition to creating an uneven smile; once inflammation is treated, these pockets recede and the risk of additional infection is temporarily averted.
If your gums are receding due to mechanical issues like the friction caused by improper brushing, your dentist can provide guidelines for brushing effectively and safely. When friction is caused by outside sources, removing the source of friction usually stops the corresponding gum recession; for example, when gum recession is the result of excess pressure on the gums because of chronic clenching or grinding, treating this chronic issue halts the damage to the gums and teeth. When gum recession is caused by periodontal disease, receding gum treatments often include scaling and root planing treatments that aim to reduce inflammation in the gums by removing infected and decayed tissue and treating the oral cavity to discourage future infection.
If periodontal disease is serious, you might require gum tissue grafts to replace tissue lost to inflammation and infection; it’s important to remember that the gums serve an important protective function and your teeth need them to stay vital and healthy. While your gums may have begun to recede, if you work with your dentist to address the issue, you can help keep your teeth safe from bacterial invasion while maintaining the balance of your gum line and your smile.