https://orawellness.com/ wrote this.
There is a lot of false information about receding gums on the internet. Why does it happen? How can you maintain the health of your gums? If your gums are already receding, what can you do?
To provide the groundwork for our conversation on how to maximize your gum health, let’s first take a quick look at the anatomy of the mouth.
Gum tissue anatomy 101
All that our gums are is a covering of skin over the maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw) bone structure.
The gum tissue on the teeth will remain robust and at a healthy level as long as the jaw bone beneath it remains intact.
Stated differently, the withdrawal of the bone supporting the gum tissue is the only reason why gums recede.
Therefore, we must first examine the five primary causes of jaw bone tissue withdrawal, or demineralization, in order to determine what is causing gum recession.
Five primary reasons for jaw demineralization
The following are the five primary causes of the loss of jaw bone tissue:
- Advanced gum disease, or periodontal disease
- Teeth clenching and grinding is known as bruxism.
- Deficits in nutrition
- Injury
- The genetics
Every tooth is surrounded on both sides by jaw bone tissue.
Sadly, the layer of bone tissue on the exterior of the face, closest to the skin or lips, is extremely thin, and in certain cases, nonexistent.
Gum recession is significantly influenced by the density of jaw bone tissue on the face (outside) side of our teeth.
The jawbone’s demineralization process takes time to complete. Although the bone gradually loses minerals, its general structure is unaffected. The jaw bone can remineralize as long as the “scaffolding” is in situ, provided that the source of the demineralization has been successfully handled.
But as the bone’s scaffolding-like structure demineralizes as well, the gum tissue loses the support it need to be at its best on the teeth. Although the gums do not immediately recede as a result of this bone loss, the gum tissue is now extremely susceptible to recession. Any aggravation might cause the gum tissue to retreat if the bone isn’t there to hold it in place.
How may the recession of gums be prevented?
To prevent our gums from receding, we must first determine what is causing the underlying bone to demineralize.
General nutritional deficiencies are a typical contributing factor, so it’s always crucial to make sure you’re eating a balanced and healthful diet. Gums may retreat for the other causes listed below.
Gum illness
Gum disease is prevalent nowadays. Therefore, it could be advisable to act as though we have an active illness unless we are certain that we do not.
Gum disease that has progressed to the point that it is compromising the jaw bone is called periodontal disease.
You see, in addition to directly destroying bone structure in the mouth, the “thug bugs” linked to gum disease also put our immune system on “full alert.
Our immune system produces inflammation in the affected area in an effort to halt the infection.
Chronic (ongoing) infections cause persistent inflammation in the affected area, which further deteriorates the health of the jaw bones.
Bruxism, or clenching and grinding
Although the stressors of our contemporary lives may contribute to certain people’s teeth grinding, researchers are also discovering a substantial correlation between overnight grinding and moderate sleep apnea.
Trauma
A person’s entire life might be altered by the tragedy of a single accident.
In general, a bone that has been damaged usually recovers stronger than it was before the event. However, the adage “break it and it gets stronger” doesn’t appear to apply to our jaw bone because there is such a high danger of infection in or around the jaw.
Hereditary
Genetics may have contributed to the initial thickness of the jawbones in the face.
There may be a hereditary component to the density of your jaw bone, just as everyone is born with differences in their skulls, hair textures, etc.
It’s possible that some people were born without any jaw bone tissue at all on the surface of their faces.
As previously mentioned, the gum tissue that was supported by the facial jaw bone is more likely to recede if the bone tissue itself shrinks.