What Causes Gum Disease?

Neglecting to brush your teeth every day has more severe consequences than having dirty teeth and bad breath. When plaque and tartar are on your teeth, you can lose them due to dental decay or gum disease. Fortunately, practicing good dental hygiene can prevent damage to your teeth and keep your smile intact.

What Causes Gum Disease?

Unfortunately, gingivitis, which is the first stage of gum disease, is prevalent in the United States. Experts estimate that half of all adults 30 and older have some form of this disease. Although our dentists at Beach City Dental can show you how to prevent it, knowing its causes is also helps.

Bad Oral Hygiene

As previously mentioned, not brushing your teeth every day can lead to plaque building up and sticking to your teeth. This slurry of saliva and food debris sticks to your teeth and gums, and if you don’t brush or floss it, bacteria from plaque can cause decay to form and begin to destroy your gums. Even if you don’t have cavities, you can have gum disease in Huntington Beach, CA.

Tartar on Gums

When plaque builds up on your teeth, it hardens and turns into a substance called tartar, which isn’t removable by brushing your teeth. Tartar is yellowish or brown and is a porous, hard, crusty substance that can appear above or below the gum line. Our dentists near you need to remove it when cleaning your teeth since a toothbrush cannot remove it.

Smoking

Smoking tobacco products cause many detrimental problems for the body, including being the cause of gum disease. Smoking alters the cells of gum tissues and makes the gums more susceptible to infection. It also weakens the gums’ immunity so that they cannot fight off or recover well from infections or diseases.

Symptoms of Gum Disease

It’s also essential to know the warnings signs of gingivitis so that our dentists at Beach City Dental can start treating it immediately. The signs are:

• Dusky or dark red gums
• Swollen, puffy gums
• Bleeding gums when you brush them
• Receding gums
• Bad breath

Contact our dentists in Huntington Beach, CA if you have any of these symptoms, so you don’t suffer long-term consequences from gum disease.