Gum Disease Explained
The warning signs, why it happens, how we measure it, what treatment involves at each stage, and how Airflow and a plan keep it in check.
How Do I Know If I Have Gum Disease, and How Is It Treated in Hamilton?
Bleeding when you brush is the first sign, followed by puffy or red gums, a bad taste, receding gums and, much later, loose teeth. Early gum disease clears up with a professional clean and better cleaning at home. Once bone is affected, our hygienist Simra Ashraf treats it in Hamilton with staged deep cleaning at £100 a stage, followed by regular Airflow hygiene visits (£100) to keep it under control.
Signs to Look Out For
Gum disease rarely hurts until it's well advanced. That's why so many people are surprised when we find it. Watch for:
- Pink in the sink when you brush or clean between your teeth, or spots of blood on the pillow
- Gums that look different: deep red, puffy, shiny or tender, rather than pale pink, firm and stippled like orange peel
- A taste or smell that comes back soon after brushing
- Teeth that look longer, or twinges from cold drinks near the gum line, as the gum pulls back
- Movement: a front tooth drifting forward, a new gap, or a tooth that feels slightly loose when you bite
- A gum boil or pus when you press the gum
Bleeding is the one to act on, because it shows up years before teeth loosen. Smokers often don't bleed even when the disease is active, so regular gum checks matter even more for them.
Why Gums Become Diseased
The cause is plaque: a sticky layer of bacteria that builds up on teeth every day. Where it's left along the gum line, the gum mounts an inflammatory response to it. Within a couple of days the plaque starts to mineralise into tartar, which brushing can't shift and which gives fresh plaque a rough surface to grip.
Plaque starts it, but your own make-up decides how fast it goes. Things that speed it up:
| Risk factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Smoking | The largest single risk. Masks bleeding and slows healing |
| Diabetes | Worse gum disease when blood sugar runs high, and the two feed each other |
| Family history | Parents who lost teeth to gum disease raise your risk |
| Pregnancy | Hormones make gums react strongly to plaque |
| Some medicines | Dry mouth, or gum overgrowth that traps plaque |
| Crowding, bridges, braces | More places for plaque to hide |
| Stress | Lowers resistance and often means rushed cleaning |
Gums Bleeding or Sore?
Book a hygiene visit with Simra Ashraf.
Two Stages: Gingivitis and Periodontitis
Gingivitis is inflammation of the gum alone. Nothing permanent has happened, and with the plaque gone and kept away, the gum returns completely to normal.
Periodontitis is what can follow if gingivitis carries on. The inflammation spreads down to the ligament and bone holding the tooth in place, the gum comes away from the tooth to leave a pocket, and bone is slowly lost. Lost bone doesn't regrow. Not everyone with gingivitis progresses, but all periodontitis began as gingivitis, so treating the early stage protects you from the later one. Our periodontal disease guide explains the advanced form in more depth.
How We Check Your Gums
At every examination and hygiene visit, one of our dentists or Simra runs a slim, blunt probe gently around each tooth to measure the groove where gum meets tooth. In health it's a couple of millimetres; deeper readings mean the gum has detached. We note where the gums bleed and whether any teeth move.
Where pockets are deep, X-rays show how much bone is left around each root. We then give the disease a stage and a grade using the British Society of Periodontology system, which tells you how far it has gone and how quickly it is moving. The check takes a few minutes and is no more than mildly uncomfortable.
Treatment, Step by Step
- Clean and coach. For gingivitis, Simra removes the plaque and tartar and shows you which spots you're missing and which interdental brushes fit. Most people's bleeding stops within a fortnight.
- Deal with risk factors. If periodontitis is present, the first step is the same clean and coaching, plus help with smoking or diabetes control. Without that, deeper treatment doesn't hold.
- Deep cleaning below the gum. Simra works through the mouth one quarter at a time, usually four stages, under local anaesthetic, using fine instruments to clean the root of every tooth down to the base of its pocket. Each stage is £100. 1
- Re-measure. A few months later we probe again to see which pockets have healed and which need more work.
- Maintain. Hygiene visits, often every three months, keep the bacteria from re-establishing.
Bone loss is permanent, so periodontitis is managed rather than cured. The aim is to stop it, and with good care at home, it usually stays stopped.
What Airflow Adds
Airflow is a make of air polisher. In place of a rubber cup and gritty paste, it sprays a fine mix of warm water, air and very fine powder that strips plaque and staining from the teeth and from just inside the gum. It gets around implants, bridges and brace wires where a polishing cup can't, it is quicker, and most people find it gentler than scaling alone.
A hygiene visit with Airflow is £100. On a standard visit you can add it for £30, and on both of our dental plans it comes with every hygiene visit. 1
Gum Health Before and After Implants
Gum disease has to be under control before an implant goes in. The same bacteria that destroy the bone around a tooth can attack the bone around an implant, a problem called peri-implantitis, and an implant has fewer natural defences. So when Dr Nikhil Sharma plans implants, he looks for stable gums first and will refer you to Simra for treatment if needed. Afterwards, regular cleaning protects the investment, and it's a condition of our implant guarantee: a 5-year guarantee for non-smokers who attend hygiene visits every 3 months.
Keeping It Under Control for Good
Treatment clears what's there. What you do every day decides whether it comes back: interdental brushes once a day, two minutes of brushing angled into the gum line twice a day, no smoking, and hygiene visits kept at the interval Simra suggests.
For most people who've had gum disease, that interval is three months. Plan B was built for exactly that: £40.16 a month covers a quarterly Airflow clean, your twice-yearly dental examinations and the small X-rays that go with them. Plan A (£24.10 a month) gives you a clean every six months instead, which suits gums that are already healthy. Members get 10% off most private treatment, gum treatment stages included, at £90 a stage.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.