the simple blog

Saw a patient today with excellent home care.  Here's someone who knows how to brush and floss.

Notice how the gums wrap tightly to the teeth like spandex.  Note the bright coral pink color.  (people of darker skin may have harmless patches of pigmentation in covering some of the pink areas)  They are not red and puffy from gingivitis, and they do not bleed when prodded with dental probes or floss.  This is what your gums can look like if you take great care of them with daily flossing and brushing.  It doesn't matter if you're 9 or 99, it can look like this.

We've noticed over the years that almost everyone with healthy gums had a power toothbrush.   While it's no substitute for flossing, anything that gives you better results with less effort is worth it.  Our office is now carrying the Sonicare Elite and Xtreme power toothbrush models.

Gum disease, like diabetes, is incurable, but very treatable.  Most of our patients get better after treatment, but a few don't.  Here's the three most common reasons people can't beat gum disease...