Gum disease (just been diagnosed)

[Fruitbowl33]

This is my very first post on here. So I hope I've done it correctly.

I am 34 years old and have just been told I have gum disease. I was due for my 6 months check up in April 2020 when lock down hit so I haven't been to the dentist since around September/October time 2019.

During lockdown my dental hygiene wasn't the greatest and my gums started to bleed here and there when brushed. I bought corsadyl and used it here and there. I bought the same brand toothpaste too. I also noticed that I started to have small tiny gaps within the last 2 months appear between my teeth at the gum line. In the last few days I started to notice a darker shade of pink on my gums. The doctor google in me came out whereby I found myself researching and researching, unfortunately gingivitis and gum disease was always brought back. Even found myself reading through all the threads on here for gum disease and found them somewhat as a comfort that I wasn't alone.

I booked myself an appointment with my dentist. The earliest date I could be seen was 20th Jan. however within the last few days my gums at the bottom front have been tender so has the skin inside my mouth. I just thought it was an irritation caused by the alcohol in the mouthwash. This morning I noticed a slightly swollen gum that when I pressed on it a tiny bit of blood appeared. I decided I couldn't let this wait a few weeks longer so I rang this morning for an emergency appointment and would be seen by the dentist that was on call so couldn't see my regular dentist. The woman was lovely and after a quick talk about what I had been experiencing she looked at the lower front. due to emergency appointments they will only look at the issue you initially made the appointment for so I can't talk about the overall state of my gums although I'm fairly sure she said they aren't as bad as the front. She confirmed they were inflamed due to the tartar build up and that I would need a scale. As this needed a good clean she did give me local anaesthetic into the area. Which was fine. The scale its self was fine and I didn't feel a thing. She wanted to give me tips on dental hygiene to keep up on at home until I see my proper dentist on the 20th. The tips she has given me are:
Tepe brushes to clean I between the gaps of all my teeth.
She also wrote down another brand with us rubber and they are called wisdom clean inbetween interdental brushes (I think these are for the bigger gaps as she wrote down medium)
She also said to put toothpaste on them so that they get properly cleaned
Floss the places that the interdental stick can't get to and below the gum line.
It is worth mentioning that she did say I will bleed as there is inflammation there but to preserve and not to stop because of the bleeding.
Cleaning my teeth with an electric tooth brush in small circular motions along the gum line too.

She did warn me that my gums will bleed and will be sensitive. I asked her should I continue with the corsadyl original mouthwash and she said only for a day due to the work I had just done but then to stop it. I asked her about mouthwash and she said the corsadyl daily was fine but either 30/60mins before or after I have done my teeth but did say the above and was fine.

I did ask her what stage I was on (the scale is 0-4) and unfortunately she couldn't tell me due to the work I had just had. some pockets must have showed very deep due to the work just done and I need to allow my gums to heal and inflammation to settle. The good news was that there is no movement in my teeth for now but my gums are in fairly bad state.

My dentist who I will see on the 20th will give me a better indication on where I am with this and will score my pockets and carry out another scale. Which hopefully won't be too invasive as the one today.

I will be working as hard as I can to delay the progression of this by carrying out better oral hygiene at home.

Thanks for reading. I will continue to provide updates on my treatment and progress.

Hi I'm a bit older than you at 50 but 3/4 years ago I was diagnosed with the same. I now have my teeth cleaned and descaled every 3 months as recommended by my dentist as they can clean below the gumline. I use an electric toothbrush replacing the heads monthly, a tooth paste which is supposed to help gums, a small headed toothbrush with replacements heads to focus on the gaps and also a water flosser. I've reversed the extent of my gum disease and they no longer bleed when I brush my teeth. I do have to keep the regime up though. Hope this helps

One thing that really worked for me was dunking my floss in corsadyl. You can identify the worse areas by sniffing the floss after each gap. Gum disease smells bad. After a few weeks you will notice that some gaps dont make the floss smell anymore and the ones that do are the ones you need to be more meticulous with.

If you keep up what the dentist has said religiously you'll find it'll get better and be kept in check. Don't be tempted to give it a miss.

It's really scary so I understand your concern!

I had gum disease last autumn and worked hard flossing etc, then got complacent after my check up was good! I then spent the last few weeks of spring lockdown in a panic as my gums were awful! Bleeding, sore, swollen. Convinced myself I was going to lose teeth. I bought a fancy new toothbrush and flossed for ages twice a day- by the time I managed to get an appointment my gums were better than they were at my last check up!

Get flossing! Also, gengigel mouthwash is truly excellent stuff.

My routine is TePe brushes- different sizes for different gaps, floss, an edge brush with toothpaste that I use round all the edges of the teeth, then electric toothbrush, ensuring gums and tongue get some attention. Finish with mouthwash.

I have a full on teeth routine that I do in the shower / bath daily or whenever I remember - if you do it in the bath it doesn't feel like taking special time out for it or a hassle

1. Sonic toothbrush, the lidl one is fine and not expensive, change brush heads regularly (once a month). Use to also gently massage gums after teeth

2. use a tongue scraper daily

3. get an interspace brush something like this (not an interdental),
   use after brushing to go around the gumline, it is excellent for getting rid of plaque that toothbrushes can't reach. these really are amazing:

www.amazon.co.uk/Interspace-Toothbrush-Brushes-Orthodontic-Bridges/dp/B01LQUOWEW/ref=asc_df_B01LQUOWEW/?hvlocphy=1006565&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=310843213580&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-562027560470&hvrand=14470882074380996745

4. Use interdental teepee brushes between teeth

5. also floss

6. oil pulling with coconut oil after brushing once every couple of days for a few minutes, making sure to rinse after. It's great at reaching bacteria that may be hiding between teeth or whatever.

7. I often rub coconut oil into my gums at night, it's antibacterial and good for gum health, and not bad for the teeth either. Will really help!

Best of luck OP! and don't forget to be consistent.

Good luck! I know all of this sounds excessive but done in the bath or as often as you can it's easy to keep up with it. I don't always do every step every day but as many as I can remember to do, so most are done every other day at the least.

The meticulous about my teeth and gums and still get plaque build up behind my lower teeth. Apparently it’s common but I do remember around your age being told if I didn’t start flossing I’d lose my teeth due to inflammation. I’m now mid 40s and my gums are fine. So there is hope!

My advice would be tepe brushes, expanding floss and also a water irrigator like WaterPik. You need to angle your brush at a 45 degree angle as you go round and use an electric tooth brush with a soft head.

If you are REALLY serious about saving your teeth is add low carb/Keto into the mix and eradicate sugar and carbs. That made a huge difference to my gingivitis.

Wow, thank you all for your comments. Really helpful advice. I am really serious about this, and I need to get into a
Routine with cleaning and my diet. It isn't the best and I'm sure cutting down of sugars and carbs might help, well it couldn't do more harm than what I'm already going through. I think I might start taking multi vitamins too

I have a water pic arriving in the next few days, I've ordered floss and dental brushes. I will change the head on my tooth brush more often I was doing every 3 months 😱

I will keep updating the post and if you have any stories or further advice please let me know

Please done use mouthwash straight after brushing. Leave at least 30 minutes

Hello all, quick update, it has been almost 3 full days since my dentist appointment whereby I had a scale on the inflammation area. Which I am hoping to share a photo of for reference. My gums were very tender and so was the skin inside of my bottom tips.

Following on from my above post, since the scale my tenderness has decreased. I am keeping up with the twice daily cleaning plan. I still have a bit of blood when doing the tepe brushes but was told this is normal and hopefully this will settle down. I still have some tenderness with the inside skin of my mouth and my lips seems very dry. I started to use Vaseline yesterday on them and it does seem better this morning.

For the last 2 days I haven't been able to stop myself from being doctor google. And I was happy that gums and teeth didn't appear in my dreams last night like it has for several nights before.

I see an improvement in my gums and hope that this continues and stays. I have attached a photo that I took last night. Sorry about the two unpleasant photos. I will continue to provide updates as and when.

Looking good there. Keep it up

I have problems with my gums and the only thing that works for me is seeing my hygienist four times a year. (This has gone to pot a bit because of covid, but we are slowly getting back on schedule). She has all the latest equipment for cleaning and, what with me doing my bit as well, keeps it all under control. I see her privately, but it is worth every penny.
Everybody in my family has problems with plaque, despite attention to detail round the teeth. I think it's just the way we are made! However all of us have got our own teeth - even my parents (who are now dead) never had false ones, so all these hygienists we see/have seen are doing a sterling job.
I tried a water pic but couldn't get on with it at all, so I hope it works for you. Be careful not to irritate your gums by being over zealous with your cleaning routine, it's easily done. I use an electric toothbrush, tepe brushes of differing widths (for different sized gaps), floss and a small round headed brush for doing along the gum line. I use Peroxyl mouthwash, which I find very good. Be careful using Corsadyl as my hygienist and dentist warned me off it as it can stain your teeth with prolonged use apparently.

Looking much better already OP. Well done 👏

Thought I would give another little update, it seems like my gums are going back to being inflamed. I don't know where I'm going wrong. I'm using the interdental flosses I'm flossing and cleaning my teeth with an electric brush. Mouthwash here and there ( not after brushing) I thought I was doing so well and my gums almost looked normal again and now I feel like I'm going backwards and they are going to get worse again.

Do you smoke or vape? If so it’s imperative for your gum health that you stop.

@DottyWott no I don't smoke or vape. I'm gutted to be going backwards after only a few short days. 😢

You could be irritating your gums by over use of tooth/interdental brushes. Cleaning with an electric toothbrush twice a day, and gentle use of tepe's/floss once a day should be sufficient. If you are continually scrubbing at your gums and poking the gaps between the teeth you will just make them sore. How often are you doing all this?

Thank you for responding, I am doing this twice a day.

I rinse my mouth first with salt water
Then I scrape my tongue
Then do another salt water rinse
Then I tepe with toothpaste on.
Then I floss
Then I brush

No do not rinse then.
I might do a corsadyl daily mouthwash after my lunch. Sometimes if I cant sleep because I'm constantly dreaming for my gums I might get up and do another corsodyl daily mouthwash in the middle of the night/morning

honestly the only thing that sorted out my chronic gingivitis around my veneer was a Keto diet. If you’re desperate then it’s worth a shot.

@justanotherneighinparadise what is involved with a Keto diet?

Could it be your toothpaste OP? Sometimes SLS based toothpastes and other types which are particularly harsh can exacerbate gum issues (I find baking soda makes my gums sore). Might be worth trying a different brand that's SLS free.

Also try rubbing coconut oil on your gums before bed and leaving on overnight, really helps my gums feel healthy. Maybe all the mouthwash and chemical products are a bit harsh for you.

I'm a dentist.
Just steady on & don't go mad!
Gum disease takes a while to establish & won't go away straight away. There has to be a healing process.
Risk factors - smoking, underlying health conditions especially diabetes & immunocompromised conditions, some medications may exacerbate.
I would advise using tepe brushes everywhere, every day, 10x back & forward in each space. No toothpaste on tepe. Use different sizes to comfortably fill the spaces (but not squeeze). The sizes for each space will change as healing occurs & may always vary. You will need several sizes around your mouth.
Then rinse mouth with water.
Then toothbrush (electric often better) & toothpaste (one of the 'total' ones with fluoride & an anti- gum disease product eg cetylpyridinium chloride). Important to clean half over the gum margins & not just on the teeth. Different techniques for electric & manual toothbrushes (electric - hold brush still & gradually move along gum margin, manual - small circular movements one tooth at a time over gum margin - no big sweeps or whizzing about with either brush)
Then spit out, no rinsing.
Just before bed a fluoride mouthwash (must be alcohol-free).
Check the constituents of a corsodyl mouthwash which may contain chlorhexidine. Good to use for a few days after an acute flare-up but not long term because this product can cause staining (the staining is strictly caused by the coffee or tea you drink after using the mouthwash!)
Give it a few weeks healing - after all this regime you may need another hygienist trip because more hard scale may be present after the gums have shrunk with healing.

There you are everybody - a new-years health tip for everyone!!

Interesting post

I have ongoing gummy issues because my teeth are so tightly packed, I can barely get floss through some of the gaps. I have increasingly been told I have gum disease signs and I now see hygienist every 3 months for a good clean and scale.

Like the poster above I also get that plaque behind the front teeth- they said it's common as water pools there, also more common if you breathe through your mouth or have a dry mouth (it is better breeding ground for plaque)

The truth is, I'm not great and sticking to any kind of dental routine and I have really neglected my teeth and gums in the past. I will try some of the tips in this post though.

Can anyone recommend a decent gloss that doesn't shred? I have oral b at the moment but it shreds terribly and I worry that I get fine pieces stuck