Gingival retraction is a gum disease that can be caused by a number of factors, including improper brushing.

When tooth brushing is not done correctly, it can cause the gums at the base of the tooth to recede, which can lead to exposure of the tooth root and a number of other dental problems.

In this article, we will discuss more about gum recession caused by incorrect tooth brushing and how this problem can be prevented.

Gum recession is a common gum disease that manifests itself by the receding of the gums at the base of the teeth.

When the gums recede, the root of the teeth can be exposed, which can lead to a number of dental problems such as tooth decay, tooth sensitivity and tooth loss. Also, receding gums can be unsightly and can affect the overall appearance of your smile.

Brushing is one of the most important ways to prevent dental disease, but improper brushing can be one of the main causes of receding gums.

When tooth brushing is not done correctly, it can cause gum damage and lead to gum inflammation. Over time, this inflammation can lead to receding gums at the base of the teeth.

Some of the most common mistakes we make when brushing our teeth include brushing too hard or with a toothbrush with too stiff bristles, brushing too quickly, brushing too infrequently or neglecting dental hygiene. When brushing too hard or with a toothbrush with too stiff bristles, it can cause gum damage and lead to inflammation and receding gums. Brushing too quickly or too infrequently can lead to plaque build-up and increase the risk of developing dental disease.

To prevent receding gums caused by incorrect brushing, it is important to learn how to brush your teeth correctly. To brush your teeth correctly, you should use a soft-bristled toothbrush and apply gentle pressure using circular or horizontal strokes. We should also brush our teeth at least twice a day for at least two minutes and floss daily.

In addition, it is important to eat a healthy and balanced diet, including foods rich in vitamins and minerals essential for healthy teeth and gums. We should also avoid unhealthy habits, such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, as these can negatively affect the health of teeth and gums.

If you already have receding gums, it is important to consult a dentist. Depending on the cause and severity of the problem, your dentist may recommend different treatments, such as the application of substances to stimulate gum growth or surgery such as gum transplantation.

In conclusion, improper tooth brushing can be a major cause of receding gums, a condition that can lead to a number of dental and cosmetic problems. To prevent receding gums caused by incorrect brushing, it is important to brush your teeth correctly and have proper dental hygiene, as well as having a healthy diet and avoiding unhealthy habits.

If we already have receding gums, it is important to see a dentist to get proper treatment and prevent further complications.

How does brushing the wrong teeth cause irreversible gum recession?

Since childhood, we have been told to brush our teeth. It is an important habit for both children and adults. But most of us brush our teeth too often and too roughly.

I know it may be hard to believe that tooth care can be the cause of tooth decay, but every year millions of people are affected by tooth enamel and gum disease.

The first problem with tooth brushing is that many people brush incorrectly, too abrasively and too frequently.

Tooth enamel becomes thinner and the gums recede, atrophy, and so-called receding gums occur. With this gingival recession, the bone mass under the gum line decreases, exposing the roots of the teeth, resulting in sensitization of the teeth and the appearance of cuneiform lesions and caries.

Without realizing it, most of us also have the habit of brushing our teeth reflexively, without thinking about the brushing action itself, without controlling it, without really cleaning the areas that cause most tooth damage.

Although it is hard to believe, receding gums associated with periodontal disease are waging a slow war against our bodies, with more than 75% of adults over the age of 35 showing signs and symptoms of this condition to some extent.

In fact, periodontal disease is one of the leading causes of tooth loss in adult patients.

In addition, modern medicine points to a possible connection between gum disease and a number of other conditions in the body, including diabetes and heart disease.

Thus, it is theorized that bacteria from the oral cavity, the cause of gum disease, may move into the body via the bloodstream. Bacteria can facilitate the formation of atheromatous plaques or blood clots, thus causing narrowing or even obliteration of blood arteries.

The bottom line is that people brush their teeth too vigorously without really cleaning the areas where most tooth disease occurs.

Toothbrushes, toothpaste or mouthwash are not effective in the areas between the teeth, no matter how beautifully the advertisements are portrayed.

Only flossing or other interdental cleaning devices (mouthwashes, air floss, air flow) can destroy plaque in the spaces between teeth.

Traditional thinking teaches us that poor oral hygiene is the first major cause of gum disease without giving due weight to the devastating effect that improper tooth brushing can have over time.

However, it is certain that aggressive advertising campaigns linked to this idea, including the use of graphic images of bad teeth, have persuaded many people to brush excessively.

As a result, many of us end up damaging our healthy teeth and gums over time through excessive and untimely tooth brushing.

This habit of excessive brushing with nylon toothbrushes can result in irreversible damage to tooth enamel and gums, conditions known as cuneiform lesions in the enamel or irreversible gum recession in the gums.

An estimated 24 million people each year suffer from what has been classified as ‘toothbrush disease’.

The term stands for gum recession and tooth enamel damage caused by excessive and untimely brushing, which contributes to the loss of alveolar attachment and hypersensitization of teeth.

For this reason, dentists do not recommend the use of hard toothbrushes, but use medium or soft toothbrushes, mouthwashes and floss.

The effects of very aggressive brushing led to destruction of tooth enamel and receding gum papillae. This will cause interdental spaces to appear where the gums used to be. As these spaces form, teeth become more sensitive and plaque is impossible to remove because access to these interdental areas is difficult.

Mechanism of gingival recession and the appearance of cuneiform lesions:

Tooth enamel and gums are extremely thin. Tooth enamel is, by comparison, the thickness of an egg shell, while gums are the thickness of a sheet of paper.

Because of their brittleness, brushing too aggressively can damage tooth enamel and atrophy gums.

If you have experienced sensitive teeth, this can be caused by gum recession, which can lead to loss of underlying bone mass, exposure of roots and the onset of tooth sensitivity.

When cleaning their teeth, millions of people brush their gums reflexively without even realizing it, causing damage to tooth enamel and gums in the process.

Plaque has a soft consistency, like yoghurt.

To remove plaque, you don’t have to damage your teeth and gums!

Just as a drop of water falls from minute to minute on a stone over the years, eventually piercing the stone, so too does the reflex brushing of teeth, every day, day after day, two or three times a day, the nylon of the brushes rubs the same enamel prisms, eventually dislodging them, forming what dentists call: “wedge-shaped lesions” – true horizontal grooves in the tooth’s core.

This brushing traumatizes the gingival papillae, generates microlesions that never fully heal due to the repetitive action of untimely tooth brushing, eventually leading to irreversible retraction of the gums, exposure of the roots and the onset of dental hypersensitivity.

Some of us brush so vigorously, believing that this is the solution to healthy, clean, bright-white teeth that, by comparison, “polishing” car bodies is a gentler treatment.

My aim is not to discourage toothbrush use but to draw your attention to how you use it.

I am trying, through articles like this, to sound an alarm so that we can understand our bodies, the actions we take and how those actions affect our overall health.

We must not let vicious habits – such as bad brushing: excessive and untimely – end up irreversibly degrading the health of our teeth and gums.

Starting today we will brush our teeth gently with medium or soft toothbrushes, avoid “saw” movements, use modern means of oral hygiene – mouthwash, air floss, visit the dentist once every 6 months.

We take our information, in 2017, with the help of tablets, the latest generation laptops, with the help of smart mobile phones via 5G or wireless technologies but at the same time we hygienize our teeth with brushes not very different from the tools used 5000 thousand years ago.