i used to have braces, and am also a vicious teeth grinder at night. my dentist says this is why my gums are receding badly on my lower teeth. i will probably need a gum graft, which is painful and expensive. my brother had it, and the results were not long lasting, so i will do anything to prevent this.
my dentist has given me a fluoride rinse and gel. i am skeptical about all this fluoride, but if it saves my gums, i will do it. i also have low tooth enamel, and it is supposed to help that too. i have seen lots of ayurvedic pastes, and some miracle gum rejuvanating herbal liquids on the net, such as gum rejuv. do you think these are worth a shot?
anyone else had this problem? i have really bad teeth, and it is such a stressor!
RE: hope for receding gums?
Hi Starfish[&:]
First and foremost, throw out any broad adult toothbrush, as these are not suitable for even the biggest mouths. Buy yourself a kiddies soft bristle brush with a tiny head and brush each tooth individually. You'll definitely see a difference.
As for the recommended treatment ... I'd call a couple of dental hygienists or even a dental school and ask for their opinion before starting this.
How is your vitamin & mineral intake? [:o]
Good luck;)
@nnie[8D]
RE: hope for receding gums?
Hi starfish,
My boyfriend used to grind his teeth really badly at night and was sort of dislocating his jaw. The dentist made him a plastic tooth shield moulded to the shape of his teeth and that sorted it. He doesn't even need to wear it now, as it trained him not to grind his teeth at night. Maybe something like that would help you.
Lucy
RE: hope for receding gums?
Hi Starfish
My dentist suggested I buy a Water Pik to help my receding gums. I must admit I wasn't keen on flossing - hate it when it gets stuck between your teeth & maybe I was a bit too vigorous as it always made my gums bleed - therefore used seldom & got a coating of plaque - which doesn't help your gums.
The Water Pik makes your teeth feel very clean & is supposed to massage your gums to keep them healthy. I must admit to being addicted to it - it's nice to have really clean feeling teeth, they feel better now than they have in years - look better too.
The dentist said they were all the rage 20-30 years ago (I can't remember them) but then fell out of fashion. The prices however in UK don't reflect this - in USA they are much less expensive, pity about the voltage difference.
It's early days yet so I don't know if it will help but my mouth sure feels better.
Blessings, Love, Light & Laughter
Linda
RE: hope for receding gums?
Hi Starfish
My Dad had a severe problem with receding gums and I managed to find an Aloe based toothpaste (which has no 'gritty' substances to damage tooth enamel and no fluoride) but it is combined with Bee Propolis, which is a natural anti-biotic.
His gums are now much better and the dentist has decided to wait a bit longer before considering 'surgery' (as you mentioned).
I myself suffered with bleeding gums and used to see the hygienist regularly. I also use this toohpaste and my dentist is really pleased with the results. I have no plaque build up, no bleeding gums and haven't seen the hygienist since last July 2002! Because of the natural anit-biotic it's also brilliant for mouth ulcers.
For information on this product go to [DLMURL] http://www.pure-aloe.net/products [/DLMURL] and use the password FFF77507.
Best of luck with it anyway - sore gums are miserable to put up with.
RE: hope for receding gums?
wow! thanks so much. i think i will throw out all my fluoride gunk, and try this aloe paste. sounds really good.
i have a sonicare toothbrush, which should have helped by now. at least i know it does not make them worse.
i am going to look for a waterpick this weekend. i do floss, but this sounds better.
i take alot of vitamins and eat really healthy, but this is a recent change, and i grew up eating very unhealthy. everyone in my family has very bad teeth, probably due to this. i also had an eating disorder awhile ago, which is why my enamel is worn down, and surely did not help my gum problem.
i just ordered a mouthguard on the net, called splintek. i look like a football player while i sleep, but it keeps my mouth from closing. should retrain me not to grind. before my dentist made me mouthguards that i just chewed thru.
louise hay says gum disorders are from not being decisive in life, i find this very interesting, as i am extremely indecisive. something else to think about.
a friend just told me today to try silicea gel, so i will give that a try too.
thanks for your help!
RE: hope for receding gums?
I use those tiny little TePe brushes for between teeth. One cause of receding gums can be a bacterial problem, so suggest a mouth wash from dentists with hydrogen peroxide in it. Kills just about everything, you can buy hydrogen peroxide on it's own dirt cheap from chemists & dilute yourself but tastes like nothing you can imagine.
There are various oxygen supplements on market that do same job, but taste much better - at a cost. Only one I know by name is Vitamin O - blurb on that on below holistic-centre website.
RE: Nocturnal tooth grinding/clenching - I was a clencher at college - so definitely aggravated by stress!
There are many possibilities for keeping you tense in your sleep, but this will certainly be impacting on quality of sleep. [>:]
There well may be an underlying TMJ (the jaw joints) problem, if this wasn't there at the start by now you'll most likely have one - this messes up the whole jaw mechanism and is usually accompanied by some stiff/locked joints in the upper neck. The whole area is so complex that you can't really separate the two probs. So sorting those out would be a good place to start - any osteopath should be able to help on that one, but ask them about it first.
A gum shield or bite is only likely to palliate the symptoms & you may need to use it for the rest of your 'natural'.
There are lots of other possibilities that may be aggravating/maintaining the problem, but will save that soap box for another day.
[sm=soapbox.gif]