Despite the prevalence of pathology - it affects 2/3 of the population over the age of 40 (data from the American Dental Association) - few people know what to do if the gum moves away from the tooth, considering it to be something unimportant, passing by itself yourself. And tooth loss with atrophy of the jawbone, which subsequently ends, is considered an inevitable age-related manifestation. How a beautiful snow-white smile can be preserved until old age by stopping this pathological process, read further in the article.
General view
Gum tissue is nothing more than a layer of skin over the bone tissue of the teeth of the upper and lower jaws. The condition when the gum has moved away from the tooth is called gum recession in dentistry. K06.0 is the code for this disease in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10).
Recession can be localized when 1-2 teeth are affected, or it can take a generalized form, spreading to the entire jaw or simultaneously to both. The only cause of the disease isdemineralization of the bone tissue of the tooth. This reduces the volume and density of the bone. The surface area on which the gum rests also decreases. At a certain stage, it begins to move away from the tooth, forming a kind of pockets and gaps between the teeth.
Symptoms
The first signs of the disease become noticeable when the disease reaches a sufficient level of its progression. Periodically occurring, barely noticeable pain and bleeding when brushing your teeth for a long period (several years), are replaced by stable manifestations that are gaining momentum:
- pocketing between gum and tooth;
- gingiva descends and becomes mobile;
- redness and pain in the gums, aggravated by mechanical action on them (eating, brushing teeth);
- due to the lowering of the gums, the teeth appear longer, the gaps between them at the bases are exposed;
- bad breath;
- Tooth sensitivity to food chemicals (s alt), food temperature (painful reaction to cold or hot);
- Mobility of teeth, loosening followed by their loss.
Especially it is necessary to pay attention to the listed symptoms to people of age. Often, when the gum has moved away from the tooth, treating the underlying disease (osteoporosis) helps stop the recession.
Reasons
Gingival recession is not an independent disease, but acts as a complication of other diseases. There are five main reasons that the gum has moved away from the tooth due todemineralization of dental tissues:
- Periodontitis is a progressive gum disease of an infectious nature.
- Bruxism is grinding and crooked teeth.
- Osteoporosis is a general demineralization of the human skeleton.
- Maxillofacial injury.
- Genetic predisposition.
There are other reasons that remain unexplained. Their presence is indicated by the development of gingival recession in the absence of the above five causes.
Stages
Classification of the disease according to severity was proposed by many foreign experts in the field of dentistry and maxillofacial surgery (Mlinek, Sullivan, Smith, Mahajan, etc.). In our country, it is customary to adhere to the Miller classification, which divides the disease into four classes of severity:
- Class I. The gum became inflamed and moved slightly away from the tooth. The patient periodically experiences inconvenience when eating, which "clings" to the detachment of the gums. The mucous membranes are intact.
- Class II. Detachment of the gums reaches 5 mm, but the roots of the teeth are not yet exposed. The mucous membranes are mechanically damaged and inflamed. The patient experiences pain at every meal. Visually, the pathology is an unpleasant sight, it becomes noticeable to others, causing the patient to experience psychological discomfort.
- Class III. Pathology exposes the roots of the tooth, but not more than 50%. The patient experiences constant pain, even without eating. The degradation of bone tissue becomes visible in the form of a loss of its volume: gaps inbases of teeth.
- Class IV. The gum moved away from the tooth and the roots were exposed by more than 50%. The teeth begin to loosen and are no longer subject to treatment.
Due to the pain and unsightly appearance of the teeth, rarely any of the patients brings the state of the disease to class III and IV. Usually and most often already in the second stage, they go to the doctor.
Diagnosis
Accurate diagnosis is the key to the success of future treatment. For this, two diagnostic methods are used: differential and instrumental.
The essence of the differential method is to eliminate the many reasons why the gum moves away from the tooth and leave the only correct answer. After examining the oral cavity, the doctor, having visually determined the recession of the gums, interviews the patient, during which he tries to identify the presence of contributing factors:
- genetic predisposition;
- presence of other diseases;
- smoking and its intensity, frequency;
- state of the immune system.
The instrumental method consists in the use of such diagnostic methods as radiography, computed tomography. These are the most commonly used methods with high diagnostic accuracy in determining the degree of demineralization of bone tissues and the degree of pathological changes in them.
Depending on the data collected, appropriate treatment is prescribed, as well as general recommendations are given to combatdisease.
Treatment
The etiology of gum recession (the reasons why the gum moves away from the tooth) has not yet been determined with accuracy, therefore, the treatment of pathology does not always lead to the desired result. The fourth stage of the course of the disease is always the basis for tooth extraction. The third stage sooner or later leads to this. The second stage is characterized by the fact that the tooth in most cases can be saved. At the first stage, timely treatment stops the pathology completely and brings the condition of the tooth back to normal.
Early detection of a recession is critical to timely medical intervention and successful treatment. If the tooth is not yet loose, then it is advisable to use the following methods of surgical correction of defects:
- elimination of microbial flora under the gums by hardware cleaning of teeth (in case of infectious periodontitis);
- open curettage;
- transplantation of skin to cover the exposed root;
- Gum augmentation using alloplasts.
Surgical procedure is prescribed by a specialist based on diagnostic data and depending on the degree of progress of the disease.
Prevention
To prevent gum recession, the following rules must be observed:
- eliminate gum-damaging factors: hard toothbrush, overly hard food;
- regular oral hygiene;
- Adequate calcium should be present in the diet;
- quitsmoking;
- go through a medical examination every six months;
- if the gum has already moved away from the tooth, treatment should be started immediately following the advice and recommendations of a specialist;
- get tested for osteoporosis.
Prophylactic measures should be observed especially carefully by those who had or have blood relatives with a similar disease in the family.
Folk ways
For centuries, people have noticed the healing properties of certain plants, foods, rituals. With the development of medicine, some of them have been proven, some have been refuted. There are several ways to use them when the gum has moved away from the tooth. At the same time, folk remedies do not contradict the canons of official medicine:
- if the gum has moved away from the tooth, it is useful to chew plantain;
- rinsing the mouth with decoctions of oak bark, calendula St. John's wort;
- rubbing fir, sea buckthorn oils into gums;
- gymnastics to strengthen teeth and gums in the form of chewing thin pine or oak twigs;
- eating dairy products and rich in vitamin C (sauerkraut, apples, parsley).
Answering the question of what to do if the gum moves away from the tooth, first of all it must be said that the choice should be made in favor of the dental clinic. Folk remedies cannot replace the treatment of gum recession by a doctor, but will be a good help in the process.qualified treatment, concomitant therapy.
