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How Did I Get Gum Disease?
Gum diseaseafflicts up to 80% of Americans according to the Mayo Clinic's website. Imagineeight out of ten of the people you personally know being affected by it. This is a problem thatcan lead to tooth loss. Some believe that gum disease also leads to more serious health conditionsas it creates a pathway for bacteria to enter the body.Know anyone who has returned from the dentist's office after being told that he needed a rootscaling and planing or needed to see a periodontist because he had gum disease? This scenario plays itself out in dentists' offices frequently. So, what is going on?Why does someone suddenly get gum disease? The answer is that one probably didn't 'suddenly'get it. Chances are it's been working its evil quietly in that person's life for a really long time.This person has been getting 'long in the tooth' for many years now. This isgum recession and it goes hand-in-hand with gum disease.But why weren't you told about it before? Now that I have been paying attention to the health of people's gums when they speak, I can seered puffy gums in even young twenty-something-year-old people. I have read from a dentist whostates that perhaps somewhere between 75% and 95% of people have gum disease. Why?Even for people who take scrupulously good care of their teeth by brushing and flossing daily,many will still develop gum disease. Why is this happening?Consider the nature of eating. Our teeth are designed to mash and crush food during the processof mastication (eating). All that force being applied to mash our food into digestible, tiny piecesis likely to squeeze many food particles against our teeth and gums. A thin sticky substancecalled plaque may begin to form at that point. Plaque provides a nifty anaerobic environment for  bacteria that cause gum disease to live, grow and reproduce in.This plaque can harden into a substance called tartar. Tartar provides an even better environmentfor bacteria to thrive in. Brushing and flossing are not always enough to prevent plaque or tartar from forming. Removing those substances could be even more difficult. Many dental professionals say that tartar can only be removed via a professional cleaning. This may very well be part of the reason that the Mayo Clinic's website says up to 80% of Americans have thisdisease.When I found out that I needed a root scaling and planing I was a bit unhappy. I knew that thiscondition didn't develop overnight. I was disappointed that I was never taught prevention. I'vefound that patient education on prevention has been a bit lacking at least among the dentists thatI have visited.I declined the root scaling and planing that was offered to me. Instead, I decided to research whatwas happening. I discovered a combination of tools that helped me tostop the gum diseaseI wassuffering from. I also built a website explaining exactly what I did to get rid of gum disease and
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