Gum infection or gingivitis is a bacterial disease in which gums are infected and would in turn infect the oral cavity of the patient. Gum infection commonly is accompanied with certain symptoms like a bad breath. Any failure to control the gingivitis would lead to consequences such as abscess, dental cysts, dental decay, dental infection and finally a loose tooth.
What is Gum Infection?
Gum infection refers to any sort of plaque and inflammation in the gum tissue, which is often associated with pain and inflammation of gums. Gum infection is caused because of activation of the oral mucosal immune system and its response to the different infective elements. It also brings about discomforts and initial symptoms for the patients through swelling the gum and filling it with blood.
It is interesting to know that gum infection is one of the most common oral and dental diseases and millions of people develop such disease every year. The symptoms and their intensity would vary for different people. On-time control and treatment of gum infection and gingivitis is vitally important, because if it is continued without being controlled or treated, it would lead to destruction of toughness and integrity of the gum tissue, which in turn will maximize the risk of tooth loose and dental decay considerably.
Symptoms of Gum Infection
Depending on its causes, symptoms of gum infection would vary, amongst the most important symptoms of gingivitis we can point to:
- Feeling pain at the inflammation site or inside the oral cavity
- Swelling and redness of gums
- Bad breath
- Oversensitivity of teeth to coldness and hotness
- swelling of lymphatic glands around the neck
Generally, as the gum infection is intensified, its symptoms systematically would occur. Even in the more serious cases it has been seen that continuance of gum infection had resulted in development of cardiovascular problems like rheumatic fever.
Main Causes of Gum Infection and Gingivitis
Gum infection is one of the most common oral and dental diseases and there are many different factors such as lack of oral hygiene that causes gum inflammation and infection. Below we discuss some of the most important and common causes of this infection.
Bacterial Infections
Bacterial infections are one of the most common causes of gum infection. In most scenarios, the inflammation caused by the oral bacterial pathogenicity is more serious and intensive. After penetration into the gum tissue, the bacterial elements will activate the mucosal immune system and pave the way for occurrence and development of inflammation and swelling across the gum tissue. The activities of the immune system in the gum tissue and as a result the infection of gum will be accompanied with various symptoms like swelling of the gum tissue, pain, whitening and changing the color of gum and susceptibility of teeth. Continuation of these symptoms would be very annoying for most people.
Bacterial accumulation a reason of Gum infection
Improper use of dental floss would cause gum infection!
Using dental floss is one of the best ways to prevent gum infection, as keeping this process regularly will maintain the health of your teeth and gums. However, improper use of dental floss will result in destruction of tissue of gums and exactly for this reason you need to be acquainted with the general principles and right method of using dental floss in order to avoid gum infection and gingivitis.
Some people use dental floss obsessively which in turn would lead to some damages against the gum tissue and paves the way for occurrence of gum infection. The mucosal membrane of the oral cavity is the first body’s defense barrier to prevent gingivitis and gum infection. Any harm against the gum tissue because of improper use of dental flossing would lead to removal of this defensive barrier and paves the way for aggression of bacteria and yeast against the gum tissue.
Smoking a key cause of gum infection
Smoking is another factor of causing gum infection. Smoking not only damages your gum’s tissue directly, but it can bring about many problems for your teeth, as well. Smokers dispose of their teeth and gums to thousands of chemicals and poisonous materials every day. These poisonous materials finally will decline the immunity of the gum tissue through penetrating it and then pave the way for occurrence of gum infection. In general, there is a direct relationship between the inflammations developed in the gums of smokers and their smoking habit, as in some cases quitting smoking will result in removal of these inflammations without any further treatments.
Smoking can cause gum infection
Other causes of gum infection
Generally, anything that is able to weaken the body immune system generally and immune system of gum tissue, particularly can pave the way for occurrence of gingivitis. Other causes of gum infection include the following and more: chemotherapy, alcohol consumption, improper use of toothbrush and mouth thrush, consumption of some medicines, improper nutrition, wearing dentures, etc. Additionally, it’s important to know that there is a direct relationship between gum infection and oral and dental sanitation, as keeping your dental and oral health and sanitation will be very useful in prevention of this disease.
Treatment of gum infection
You need to visit a dentist who is an expert in treating oral and dental diseases, in the first place. Today, as medical and dental science advances, various techniques and methods have emerged for treatment of gum infection. You can use modern techniques of treatment of gum infection for preventing, controlling and treating the gingivitis. Some of the most important treatment techniques of gum infection are: using antibiotics, regular use of toothbrush and dental floss, using mouthwash solutions special for treating gingivitis, etc.
Also, along with the scientific and procedures, there are home-methods you may implenet for temporal treatment of gum infection. The Most important of them being: saltwater solution and using turmeric. However, the efficiency of these methods is less than the efficiency of above-mentioned techniques and in the acute cases, these home methods cannot help you to cure your gum infection.
In general, removing the main cause of gum infection is the major method to prevent and treat this disease and as far as these causes of inflammation and infection of gums are present, you will get gingivitis once in a while. It is recommended to ask your dentist’s opinion about how to treat this disease.
Gum infection FAQ
1-Does gum infection cause gum bleeding?
Yes, gum infection would lead to gum bleeding and in more serious cases, your gums may start to bleed whenever and wherever.
2-Does tooth decay cause gum infection?
Yes, tooth decay is one of the common causes of gum infection and as gum infection can cause tooth decay, the latter can exacerbate symptoms and intensity of the gum infection.
3-Is the consumption of baking soda useful for treating gum infection?
No study has been conducted on this issue, so far. However, there are rumors from the people who used to suffer from gum infection that using vinegar and baking soda together can be helpful to accelerate the treatment process of this disease.
4-How common is gum infection among children and adults?
Gingival infection is more common among adults, which is due to ignoring sanitation tips, smoking and misusing alcohol.
5-How does mouthwashes work to get rid of gum infection?
Mouthwash not only prevents and treats dental plaques, but also it disinfects the oral cavity. Thus, using mouthwash plays a helpful role in completing the treatment procedure of gum infection.