Gum Disease is a Lifestyle Disease.

One of the great fears many of us face is that we will one day be told that a tooth has to be removed, even worse is if the tooth is one that’s visible when we smile. Another great fear is the fear of being told ‘your breath stinks’ or seeing blood in the sink when you rinse your mouth after bruising. And, yet, somehow, in the vast majority of people the fears fail to result in assertive action to prevent it from happening.

For the vast majority of people gum disease is preventable, however, intriguingly; despite best efforts it affects 45% of the UK population and 11.2% of the global population. These figures have remained unchanged for a long while.

The research remains inconclusive and like most things in life there is no easy explanation. Some people won’t take responsibility for themselves others feel that the responsibility is someone else’s. Some people don’t understand, others don’t care. Some people are lazy whilst others make a great effort but don’t succeed. Exceptionally high genetic susceptibility explains gum disease in as little as 1-2% of people, for the rest it’s an inadequate approach to oral hygiene and general self-care. Gum health shares links general self-care, like, for example, eating healthily, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, not smoking or taking drugs or drinking too much. These are considered to be lifestyle issues and they share links with gum disease.