Share on FacebookIf your gums bleed when you brush normal? What if it only happens sometimes?
Bleeding gums “sometimes” is tricky. If “sometimes” means you poked your gums with your toothbrush or on a potato chip earlier in the day, then yes, “sometimes” is normal. But if “sometimes” means a couple times of week or more, then absolutely no!
OK, this isn’t as fun to talk about as sparkly white teeth, but it’s time to sound the alarm on one of the most common diseases around. Its GUM DISEASE and 75% of Americans have some stage of it.
Most people think that it’s normal when gums bleed. Well it’s not! If you washed your hands and they started to bleed, wouldn’t you get a little worried? If your scalp bled when you brushed your hair, would you call your doctor? Of course you would, yet most people don’t get worried about bleeding gums because no one is telling them it is serious gum disease that could be deadly!!
Did you know that inflammation like you find in gum disease causes a better indicator of future heart attack and stroke than cholesterol? And there’s more. Did you know that dentists play a role in identifying the 5 million Americans with undiagnosed diabetes? This is because diabetics are more susceptible to gum disease and reversely a patient with diabetes must keep their gum health pristine to increase their chances of survival. Gum disease inflammation has also been linked to the risk of developing Alzheimer ’s disease and for women delivering preterm low-weight babies.
The news about gum disease and its connection to our overall health continues to come up again and again in research and medicine. It’s time to get deadly serious about the disease. It is now standard for physicians to send their stroke and heart risk patients straight to the dentist to get their gum disease under control as their first line of defense.
Are you ready for the good news? Family dentists today now take the time to screen their patients for gum disease annually. It is quick, painless and free. Even better? Systems and technology are available to get gum disease under control 98% of the time without specialist surgery.
Got bloody gums? Talk to your dental team today.