Symptoms of Gum Disease

If you are an adult living in the United States, chances are you suffer from mild to moderate gum disease. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that periodontitis, the advanced form of gum disease, affects nearly half of all American adults. Gingivitis, the early form, affects an even greater proportion of the population.

The good news is that dentists have continued to get better at treating periodontal disease. So long as you visit the dentist regularly and improve your dental hygiene habits, you should be able to prevent the advance of periodontitis. It helps to know the symptoms of gum disease, which starts out with mild symptoms that gradually progress to more serious ones.

Early symptoms of gum disease can involve:

• Gums that swell or become bright red
• Frequent bad breath
• Tenderness and bleeding in your gums
• Pain when you are chewing food

These signs should act as a warning that you need to schedule a dental appointment as soon as possible. Don’t try to fix the problem yourself by resolving to step up your regular dental hygiene: while making sure to floss and use mouthwash every day won’t hurt your dental health, it’s not enough to rid your body of a gum infection. And more frequent brushing may start to erode your gums, exacerbating one of the later symptoms.

Later symptoms of gum disease include:

• Gums that bleed frequently
• Chronic bad breath that doesn’t go away after brushing teeth
• Teeth appear longer in the mouth
• Increased sensitivity in some or all of your teeth
• Gums start drawing back from teeth
• Teeth feel loose
• Extra gaps between teeth
• Changes in your bite or tooth alignment

These symptoms can be more difficult to overcome, but with an experienced dentist and aggressive plan of action, you can fight these symptoms and regain your oral health.