In addition, gum disease is something that most people don’t think about until it becomes obvious that they have it. Therefore, they don’t become aware that their oral care routine is not adequate until gum recession, loose teeth or other problems show up.
Unfortunately, once gum disease has gotten a foot hold it is harder to get rid of it. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure in the case of gum disease.

There can be other factors that contribute to the problem as well. If you grind your teeth, this excessive force can put tremendous mechanical pressure on the supporting structure of your gums and teeth and weaken that structure. This makes it easier for gum disease to progress.

If you have crooked teeth, the plaque that forms a nice home for bacteria finds places to exist that your daily care routine may not be able to reach. Straight teeth are important for more reasons than just having a pretty smile. Unfortunately, I myself have suffered from gum disease, and it is hard to arrest the progress in places where the teeth are not straight. It is relatively easier to get to the places of my mouth where the teeth are not crowded together.

Flossing is very important, but I’ve found that flossing is not enough to prevent plaque build up and calculus formation on my teeth and near my gums, for whatever reason. It remains a mystery to me. However, I believe that I am not alone in this. I’ve read stories of others who have taken excruciatingly good care of their teeth and could not stop the progression via regular flossing and brushing.

I’ve spend a great deal of time to find tools that would help me fight gum disease and prevent its progress. Some tools have more value than others.

Unfortunately, if the information provided by our professionals was adequate to prevent gum disease, then the statistics would not be so horrendous. Most quip that as much as 75% of people over thirty-five have some sort of gum disease. The Mayo Clinic website said that 80% of adult Americans are afflicted in some way.

With this prevalence of gum disease, not much needs to be said. You can ponder for yourself whether regular brushing and flossing are enough to prevent this problem.

Why? For starters, I’m tired of my dentist complaining about my gingivitis which has now become mild to moderate periodontal disease. Will a Hydro Floss change that? I honestly don’t know, yet. Based on what I’ve read about them, it may be possible. I’m a skeptic by nature though, but I’m also curious enough to try out different things. Sometimes that strategy works for me and sometimes it doesn’t.

I’ve had a lot of problems with dentists over the years. I don’t believe that all dentists are completely honest. In fact, I had a dentist tell me that I had a ‘trouble spot’ that she wanted to drill into. I went to another dentist who didn’t appear to detect any problem or any ‘trouble spot’ at all. That was after waiting six months. If there was a problem that was going to get worse, it certainly didn’t do so.

Another time, a dentist cheerfully suggested a root canal for a pain I was having in a tooth. I declined. In less than two weeks, that pain went away and never came back, without a root canal being done. That was about 14 years ago. I’ve heard stories from people who went to a dentist to be told that they had several cavities. Upon visiting a different dentist they were told they had none!

I find this trend disturbing. I go to a dentist to maintain my teeth and gums and to make sure that I keep the teeth with minimal damage to the gums. So when unnecessary procedures are recommended, I find it a little annoying. I should be able to trust my dentist but instead, I view her much like I view a car dealership when taking my car in for service. Watch the wallet or get taken. I shouldn’t have to feel that way about my dentist. But I do.

One of the best sales presentations I have ever seen was that of a dental hygienist. She wanted to sell me a ‘root scaling and planing’. During this procedure they anesthetize your gums and use metal instruments to scrape and scale along the root to remove plaque under the gumline.

I bet it hurts a lot when the anesthesia wears off. I was told this was the ‘only’ way to get rid of plaque under the gums. Since I declined the procedure, they wanted me to sign a waiver in case I lost my teeth as a result of not undergoing their prescribed treatment. I viewed this as another scare tactic. It also motivated me to find another solution.

Like I said before, I have only had my Hydro Floss for a week, but I like the results I’m seeing so far. When finished using it, I feel like my gums have just had a good massage and it only takes a few minutes to go over my entire gumline.

I asked my dentist what she thought about the Hydro Floss. She wasn’t convinced that it was any better than a waterpik. I decided to try it. If my dentist doesn’t like it, it might actually be good for me.

I’m not interested in losing my teeth due to gum disease. I have always kept good care of my teeth. It seems that brushing and flossing are just not enough for most people to avoid periodontal disease or gingivitis. Brushing too hard can erode the gumline, precisely what I wish to avoid. I reason that if I followed the same old advice, I would get the same results.

As for the Hydro Floss, I believe I’m seeing a difference already, but I can’t be sure. There are no double blind studies being conducted on my body. My results are subjective. But I think I’ll know for sure in about a month. For now, I’m impressed.

If you have any questions about what your dentists finds or suggests, you may want to get a second opinion. That doesn’t hurt!

Update: February 2008: Using the Hydro Floss created amazing results that left my dentist and hygienist in disbelief. The dentist said, “whatever you are doing, keep it up”. My gums do not bleed during regular dental cleanings any longer. They also do not bleed, even a tiny bit, during brushing and flossing.

This article is for information purposes only. It is not meant to offer advice, diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any health condition. Please see your dental or health care professional for diagnosis and treatment.

A while back, my dental doctor and her trusty hygienist assistant told me that something had to be done about my gum disease issues. They were quite sober and determined in their explanation of what they felt was a necessary treatment. They further explained that what they wanted to do was referred to as a ‘scaling and root planing’ procedure. It is also called a SRP. Just listening to the description was pretty scary to me at the time. I didn’t really feel as if this was an experience I wanted to undergo.

The doctor’s helper articulated with precision that she intended to dig out tartar that had piled up inferior to or underneath the place where my gums met my teeth. The assistant also planned to make those areas smooth so that it would be more difficult for calculus to return.

That didn’t sound too pleasant to me, not even a little bit. She said that I didn’t need to worry about anything because she could use medication to make my gums go numb.I was beginning to imagine the pain that would set in when the medication wore off. Yikes! She explained that should I decide not to have this therapy, they could not be held accountable for what could happen to my teeth. I needed to signify that I understood that by signing a waiver. Could things get any worse?

Candidly speaking, I imagined that I was becoming the victim of some slick marketing tactics. It was hard for me to see the request to sign a waiver as anything more than a trick. Then came the part that made up my mind. The assistant stated that I should start on this today, instead of having my regular routine cleaning done. The logic she used made sense. The problem was with insurance. Should I get the standard, regular cleaning procedure now, insurance might not be inclined to pay for the advanced one later. But, I felt in my heart, that this was something I would need time to ponder before committing to it.

There was a voice in my mind that was very strongly opposed to going through with this new protocol, so I said no. Oddly enough, the waiver issue did not come up again. The entire predicament seemed very surreal to me. There had to be another way for my gums to be healthy again. Another part of this was that I knew a person who had this procedure done. It sounded to me as if she was not happy with the end result.

Seriously desiring a way out of this state of affairs, I started looking for answers. I came across the HydroFloss Oral Irrigator. I ordered one right away. I felt eager to get started when the box was delivered to my door. I looked for an instructional disk inside, but I could not find it. I wrote to the company and asked them to send me one. They did. When the video showed up, I watched right away.

I just knew there was a good chance this was at least part of the answer I was looking for. Because of that, I had no problem working with it more than a couple of times each day. Approximately, twenty weeks later, I went back to visit the office of my dentist. The reaction I received from them made my very happy.

The same assistant and doctor took a good look at my gums. Each agreed that there was a vast improvement. In fact, they told me that there was no need for that scaling and root planing now. You can imagine that I felt really good at that point. I still use my HydroFloss daily, except when traveling.

Take a gander at my signature box below and you will find a link to a coupon for a great deal on the HydroFloss. Is the Hydro Floss worth it? In my opinion, based on my experience, it is.

Eighty percent of American adults suffer from some form of gum disease according to the Mayo Clinic website. The question begs to be answered, why? Eighty percent? That is quite a high number. No one ever talks about gum disease which leads me to believe that out of that eighty percent, few realize they suffer from it. Eighty percent equates to eight out of ten people.

That means most of the people you know, possibly including yourself, suffer from some form of gum disease. Many people may not know that they have gum disease. They may in the future, though, because eventually their dentist will tell them that they need a ‘root scaling and planing’, surgery or periodontal work done.

The Surgeon General once described gum disease as a silent epidemic. Studies keep surfacing that suggest that gum disease may be a precursor to larger problems such as heart disease. Gum disease may be a route that bacteria and other pathogens enter the body through. Having gum disease means that you have left an open door to infection.

Despite all of this, few people talk about gum disease and even fewer are doing anything about it. I can foresee a day when people will pay particular attention to their oral health, because it will become common knowledge of just how serious the situation with our gum tissue is.

Unfortunately, many people will lose precious gum tissue before they even realize that they have this disease or before their dentist mentions it to them. That is why the time is precisely now to start working on this, regardless of what stage of oral health you are at. Protecting your gum tissue is protecting your overall health if all the suspected links to other disease are real.

If you are anything like me, you went for quite some time thinking it didn’t matter if your gums bled a little during brushing or flossing. Nothing is further from the truth. If you experience any bleeding at all while brushing and flossing, that is probably indicating an abnormal and possibly diseased condition. Check with your dentist for diagnosis and treatment.

Since eighty percent of adult Americans suffer from this disease it is reasonable to suspect that the preventative measures of brushing and flossing that we were all taught are not adequate to prevent or stop gum disease. If you are like me, you found that you have suffered from this disease and have lost bone and tissue as result.

I was determined not to lose any teeth to this villain and researched and tested a number of tools that I could use to arrest the progress of gum disease and keep it away. I wrote the Gingivitis Killer website to report what I have found. This article is for informative purposes only, check with your dentist if you have or think you might have gum disease for diagnosis and treatment.

I did my research. The majority of the sources I checked indicated that reversible pulpitis will go away without intervention. So why did this dentist want to drill into my perfectly good tooth? That is a question that still disturbs me, more than a year later.

It does appear that there is a ‘gray’ area nestled in among the qualified opinions of dentists. Some believe that the very beginning of tooth decay should be immediately drilled and filled. Others are not so quick on the draw.

Having a number of negative experiences with dentists, I’ve become a bit cautious around them. It seems to have paid off on at least a couple of occasions to hold off on ‘immediate’ treatment and do a little research first.

I equate the dentist attempting to ‘start right away’ with the type of high pressure tactics that often take place on a used car lot. The stakes are a little higher in the former case. The health of our teeth and gum tissue is not the realm where sharp salesman or NLP wielding marketers should tread. Yet, the phrase, ‘let the buyer beware’ still seems apropos.

What happened at the end of my story? I dropped that dentist like a bad habit. I was so sure that nothing was wrong that I didn’t even bother getting a second opinion. Six months later, I went to another dentist and guess what? There was no cavity in sight. “But, isn’t it in my chart?”, I asked. “Yes, I see it in there.” Not wanting to harm the reputation of the other dentist, I decided not to say anymore.

I’ve thought a lot about it though. The words that first dentist said before declaring her wish to drill and fill my tooth were about her impending wedding. I can’t help but think she felt some special need to make more money then her usual take.

I briefly considered reporting her to the state board that regulates her profession. I decided not to. I believe in the saying, ‘what goes around, comes around’. I don’t wish for anything bad to happen to this dentist. I just believe that there is a universal justice system that balances things out in the end.

In any case, I’m glad that I didn’t have a cavity that was permanent. The moral of this story is to underscore a point that I think is important. The body does have the ability to heal itself. Softness in dental enamel is no different. Still, perhaps there are times when it cannot.

Of course, I’m not a dentist and I’m not suggesting self diagnosis or treatment. If you have or think you might have a cavity or any other dental condition, you should go to your dentist for diagnosis and treatment.

But it does appear that sometimes you can start to develop a cavity and it can go away. I found a reference to a November 1991 study published in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation in PubMed. (PMID 1762023). This study was conducted by the Dental Research Unit of Hadassah Medical School located in Jerusalem, Israel.

After intentionally softening enamel utilizing a popular cola drink, they found significant hardening of the enamel from eating hard cheese. This is important because it suggests that when the tooth enamel is weakened it can become strong again.

That makes sense because the human body is not a machine in the true sense. For example, a car doesn’t have any self-healing mechanisms. It breaks down sooner than a human body and requires external intervention to keep it running. The human body has many ways to heal itself in contrast. Consider a cut or an abrasion and how the body can often repair those problems without serious medical intervention.

Remember, if you have or think you might have any dental problems at all, be sure to consult your dentist for diagnosis and treatment. Click on the link at the bottom of this article for my special report: How to Stop Gum Disease.

On a side note, I believe the cornerstone of my personal health maintenance regimen to be the healthy, energizing and peaceful exercises of Falun Dafa. You can read and watch videos about them on the http://www.FalunDafa.org website.

The first type of bacteria that forms within the plaque are the gram-positive bacteria. They are not deemed to be the bacteria responsible for gum disease. It is the second type, the gram-negative bacteria that is believed to cause gum disease. The gram-negative bacteria begin to inhabit and multiply in the plaque about two days after plaque forms. These gram negative bacteria produce an acid waste product that is detrimental to both tooth enamel as well as gum tissue.

This is why flossing is so vitally important. It is an efficient mechanical way to remove plaque from between and around the teeth.

The standard answer for how often you should floss is once-per-day. And this makes sense if you consider that the gum disease causing bacteria take about two days to get going. If you floss daily, in theory, you should be preventing gum disease.

However, there are questions to consider. Are you really getting all of the plaque off when you floss? Are you missing any? Do you miss the same spots all of the time?

If you miss the same spots all of the time, then you aren’t getting rid of the plaque in that area at all. It is able to facilitate the rapid growth and provide a breeding ground for the harmful bacteria that causes gum disease.

If everyone were flossing properly and efficiently, then there wouldn’t be so many people with gum disease walking around. The truth is most adults do have gum disease, as much as 80% after the mid 30′s. Yet, that is just a statistic. Gum disease can strike at any age, including children as young as 6 years old.

Since so many people have gum disease it seems unlikely that regular brushing and flossing, regardless of the reason, is enough to stop gum disease. Perhaps people don’t floss thoroughly enough. Perhaps, they don’t floss long enough. Whatever the reason, the statistics tell us that a lot of people are walking around with some form of gum disease.

The question becomes, what does work to rid one’s self of gum disease? I was told by a periodontist that a study conducted in Scandinavia indicated that getting a professional cleaning once every two months cleared up a lot of problems associated with gum disease. Unfortunately, most insurance companies won’t or don’t recognize this as the standard of care that should be maintained. I was also told that the once-every-six-month model of professional cleaning was originally intended to fight dental cavities and not gum disease. Gum disease is a different ball game that requires more frequent professional cleaning as well as good home care.

I was told that I had gum disease. At the time, I was told that I needed a root scaling and planing treatment. I declined and bought a special device called a hydrofloss and used it daily. When I went in for my next dental checkup I was told that I didn’t need that root scaling and planing treatment any longer. I question the validity of the need for the root scaling and planing in the first place.

My gums do not bleed upon brushing and flossing any longer. If you have gums that bleed while brushing or flossing, that is often a sign of gum disease. No one ever told me that. In fact, I never knew it until I started researching gum disease. So be aware that if you have any bleeding while brushing or flossing you may have gum disease. Most people are not aware of this basic fact. As in my case, they often think bleeding is normal.

This article just provides basic information that may or may not be deemed correct by dental professionals or other experts. If you have or think you have gum disease, you should visit your dentist for diagnosis, treatment and prevention advice.

Most professionals agree that gum disease can be prevented. They often refer to ‘good oral hygiene’ habits as the key to preventing gum disease. I would agree. However, what does good oral hygiene constitute? Some say that brushing, flossing and having professional cleanings done once every six months is enough to prevent gum disease. Yet, 75 percent of Americans over the age of 35 have gum disease and 60% of those do not know anything or very little about gum disease.

There may be a problem with patient education or it could be that regular brushing and flossing as well as every-six-months professional cleanings may not be enough to prevent gum disease in everyone after all. Discerning the truth of the matter may be difficult.

What kind of risk factors might contribute to the likelihood of periodontitis developing in your mouth? There are several. These factors were noted on the FDA’s website.

Smoking – People who smoke may be seven times more likely to develop periodontitis than people who don’t smoke. Smoking is bad for virtually every part of our bodies and our gum tissue’s health is also affected by it. The increased risk for gum disease is yet one more reason to quit now.

Hormonal Changes – Hormones appear to have a major impact on the health of our gums. You may have heard the term ‘pregnancy gingivitis’ before. Though a person may be more susceptible to this disease it may still be prevented. Gum disease should not be considered inevitable.

Stress – Limits the body’s ability to fight off disease. No surprise there.

Medication – A side effect to certain medications is to decrease the flow of saliva. Saliva is helpful in protecting the health of both the teeth and the gums. Other drugs, like diphenylhydantoin (for convulsions) and nifedipine for angina, can cause abnormal growth of gum tissue.

Poor Nutrition – Not getting the right nutrients to keep the body healthy may contribute to the progression of many diseases indirectly and sometimes directly. This has to do with giving the body the nutrients it needs to repair itself properly as well as promoting a strong immune system. “You are what you eat”, as the saying goes. Eating sugar may increase the acidity of the mouth, this often creates a better environment for bacterial to live in.

Illnesses – May interfere with your body’s ability to fight off additional infection, including the kind that leads to gum disease.

Grinding Teeth – This often happens when we are sleeping. I know I have this problem and I try to wear a dental guard. These guards can be obtained at virtually any drug store.

If you have or think you might have gum disease, gingivitis or any other oral health condition, contact your dentist for diagnosis and treatment.

It is the unspoken, unsung, and truly unwanted ‘something’ that lurks in the darkness. It is hidden away in the closet. It is a shared malady that is so seldom discussed that people tend to think they are the only one with it. No one wants to talk about it.

It is such a big problem that an entire industry is built around it.

Because it is so seldom discussed, the awareness of it is stifled. Though it runs rampant in a hidden, secretive way, it is everywhere. Virtually omnipresent, it remains in that hazy ether of unawareness. It’s just not on the radar for most people.

It does have a name, a plain, simple and unassuming designator consisting of just three syllables: gum disease. How could something with such a humble, innocent sounding nomenclature cause so much trouble for humanity? Yet, it does.

Those people in the waiting room would be surprised to learn just how many people do have it. What a shock to discover that your neighbor has implants or your mailman has dentures. So many people are affected, suffering silently.

Who would want to talk about it? Why should it even be brought up? It’s just one of those unpleasant, inescapable facts of life that you must endure. Or is it?

No one is quite sure how many people have it or will get it. Statistics vary between forty and eighty percent of people. One medically oriented website says that 95% of people 65-years-old and beyond have gum disease. But it can strike much younger and often does. Even children can get it.

Like many people, I was shocked to learn that I needed a SRP treatment. SRP stands for ‘Scaling and Root Planing’. SRP is a deeper cleaning that involves scraping and smoothing the root surfaces in order to get rid of built up plaque and tartar. Unpleasant? Sometimes they need to give you anaesthetic to get through the procedure.

Thus began my journey of discovery. I knew I wasn’t going to get a SRP treatment. I was determined. Like Columbo, I was going to get to the bottom and uncover the truth of the matter. “Mam, I just have one more question…”

After painstaking effort and long hours of searching, I finally found success in hunting down answers and an alternative to the SRP treatment. My hard efforts paid off for once in my life.

Today, because of my commitment to maintaining dental health I make frequent trips to the periodontist’s office. That’s where I see them – the other patients. These are the people who know. But what about the others, the people who don’t know what lurks in the closet? They are everywhere.

I get my teeth cleaned about once every two months. I find this works well towards keeping my gums healthy. Even with this frequent cleaning schedule and excellent home care habits, I still routinely see 4mm pockets. Anything above 3 is considered a problem.

Yet, my problems were much worse a few years ago. I felt isolated. Because so many people have gum disease, but no one talks about it. Have you ever felt alone in a room full of people? I found some simple answers that really should be common knowledge. However, like gum disease itself, those answers have remained hidden outside the realm of mainstream knowledge for some unfathomable reason.

Professional care is important. But without good home care procedures, just going to the dentist won’t be enough. This is where my detective work paid off. I found the home care solutions I was looking for.

No man or woman is a rock and no one is an island. If you or a loved one has gum disease, you are not alone. Start with professional care at a periodontist’s office and do everything you can to discover the home care methods that can help save your teeth and keep your gums healthy.

Clearly, if this is the case, something is very, very wrong. How could it be true that so many suffer from gum disease? Don’t most of us go to the dentist on a regular basis to get our teeth cleaned? Don’t most of us brush and floss our teeth every day? How could the percentage of people that have gum disease be so incredibly high?

Fighting or preventing gum disease is a complex problem in the sense that there are many facets to look at. That is not to say that gum disease itself is hard to conquer. No.

There is a small minority of people that will suffer from gum disease no matter what. But the vast majority of people are not doomed in this way. It is really a matter of understanding and taking action.

Therein lies part of the problem. Understanding what gum disease is and what is needed to stop it or prevent it from coming back once it has been checked is desperately needed by the majority of people.

Information about gum disease in the quantity and quality necessary is not always forthcoming from the sources we might expect to provide it. There is one notable exception. Periodontists have special training in gum care. The focus of their practice is on the health of the gums.

There is an entire profession devoted to gum health and disease. Isn’t that just another clue? That eighty percent statistic isn’t so far fetched after all, is it? Statistics do vary, you may hear that the number of people with gum disease is anywhere from 40 percent to 95 percent of the population. Whatever the truth really is, it is clear that a lot of people suffer from periodontal problems.

Even so, information and understanding is part of the problem. If you understood what gum disease is and how it sets up residence in the mouths of most human beings, you should have a much better chance to stop it, check its progress or prevent it in the first place.

Yet, so few have that level of understanding, judging by the statistics provided by oral care professionals. How can this lack of knowledge be addressed?

It would be great if there was a book written by a lay person that relates personal experiences and simply and directly relates, in easy to understand terms, the reality about gum disease. As a person who has suffered from gum disease and gingivitis, I have to believe that such a book would be of benefit to every person out there.

If you aren’t part of the eighty percent, then you need to prevent active gum disease from affecting your oral health. You also have loved ones that should be protected from the ravages of gum disease.

This article is not meant to offer advice, it is for information purposes only. If you have or think you might have gum disease or any other oral health problems, you should visit your periodontist, doctor or dentist for diagnosis, advice and treatment.

I told her that she must go. Chances are she has gum disease, but she needs a dentist or doctor to diagnose the situation and rule out anything more serious.

This brings up an important point. Bleeding gums are not normal at all. Usually, if your gums bleed while brushing or flossing it is probably indicative of gum disease.

Here is a quote from the Food and Drug Administration’s website: “More than 75 percent of Americans over 35 have some form of gum disease. In its earliest stage, your gums might swell and bleed easily. At its worst, you might lose your teeth. The bottom line? If you want to keep your teeth, you must take care of your gums.”

Isn’t that scary? But it underscores a point. Gum disease or gingivitis are serious conditions. Not only can you lose your teeth, but with gum disease you also have what amounts to open wounds in your mouth.

Those crazy little bacteria might find their way into the bloodstream via those openings. Whether that situation can lead to something worse or not is still being studied.

This is what the FDA has to say about that, “…the CDC cautions that there is not enough evidence to conclude that oral infections actually cause or contribute to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other serious health problems. More research is underway to determine whether the associations are causal or coincidental.”

In any case, the possibility of losing one’s teeth is real. And that is a situation that should be avoided.

In my personal experience, I was a patient of the same dentist for years. I knew my gums bled during those every-six-month cleanings but I didn’t know that meant I had gum disease. They didn’t tell me that. I thought it was normal, as do a lot of people. Then one day they suggested that I get a root scaling and planing. They also told me that I had lost bone mass and that if things progressed I could lose my teeth.

Fortunately, I had enough sense to do a little research. I found a solution that really worked and wrote about it on the Gingivitis Killer website. I know it worked because the next time I visited, they told me how much healthier my gums were looking and that I no longer needed the root scaling and planing.

In that procedure they dig under the gum line and scrape away the tartar or plaque that has built up. They feel that this is responsible for making the gum tissue pull away from the tooth, ultimately leading to the loss of gum tissue and the supporting bone structure.

I didn’t want the expense, pain or hassle of going through such a procedure and I also know someone who had that procedure done and she has expressed to me more than once that it wasn’t worthwhile.

I like my teeth and felt that this was an important enough situation that I needed to understand exactly what was going on. My personal philosophy is that I like to know as much as possible about any health condition or procedure before allowing anything to be done. Knowledge is power so they say. I share what I learned on the Gingivitis Killer website.

If you have gingivitis, gum disease or think you might, go to your dentist right away for diagnosis and treatment. Keeping your teeth is important. Getting rid of gum disease is desirable.