Help My Teeth Are Loose

It is a recurring nightmare for many people, that they waken up one morning to find out their teeth are loose, and panic, visit their dentist, or more usually try to find a dentist because their last visit was several years ago, and then discover they have to have one or several teeth extracted and a denture fitted.

If you are reading this, and you feel one or more teeth have become loose, you must see a dental professional without delay. Please don’t think that this is something that happens to everyone in your family because your parents and grandparents have false teeth. It doesn’t have to happen to you.

The process of gum disease begins with bleeding gums, normally almost ignored, and tragically many people won’t brush because they say it makes their gums bleed, and so it must be doing harm. This is the moment to brush harder, to use floss, the string between your teeth, and to visit your dental professional. Don’t be silly and act ostrich like with your head stuck firmly in the sand, because you are at the start of a rock downward road that could end up in tooth loss.

If this bleeding used to be the case and you didn’t seek advice because you thought it was cured, then think again. Your gum disease has gone under the gum, and it is burrowing away probably without you even noticing.

There are tell tale signs if you can be bothered to look, and all you need is a well lit bathroom mirror. Just look at the gums where they meet your teeth. If your teeth look longer then it won’t be your age, but a serious, or potentially tooth loss threatening problem. Being long in the tooth isn’t any more a reflection of your age, more an indication of the health of your teeth and gums.

The gum should come up to a nice point between your teeth, and you shouldn’t be able to see a gap above between your teeth. Indeed if you can see a space, or the gum is now flat without the pointed bit, then you have a problem.
Are you finding your teeth are sensitive when you brush, or eating fruit like pineapple or when you have a cold drink, the chances arte the roots of your teeth have been exposed by shrinking gums.

If you aren’t sure obviously consult your dentist if you have one, but any doubt can be cast aside if you can see a line where the colour of the tooth darkens and that is above the gum edge. That is where your gum used to be in days gone by, before the slow steady sure progress of gum disease.

Finally if at the gum edge you can see a white, creamy, hard coating which you can just about get off with a finger nail, but with difficulty, you have scale, and a problem. If on the other hand the edge of your gum has a black line then this is almost certainly what dentists call sub gingival[under the gum] scale which needs removal by a dental professional hygienist.

All of these signs indicate serious problems in store, and the worst case scenario then is pain and swelling, caused by a gum abscess because the spaces between gum and tooth are now so large and deep you impact food down there and you develop an infection.

The tall and the short of it is this. If you have any of the above problems go and see your dentist.