Building Confidence With Dental Beauty

Do you have a lot of gum tissue that surrounds your teeth, causing your smile to look a bit gummy? This is known as gingival hyperplasia, which is a dental condition that you need to know more about.

Why Gingival Hyperplasia Happens

One of the main reasons that gingival hyperplasia can happen is because of poor oral health care at home. It's typically a problem caused by inflamed gums, which can happen due to not brushing and flossing regularly. The gums will enlarge and start to cover your teeth, which doesn't look or feel great. 

How Gingival Hyperplasia Is Bad For Your Teeth

Be aware that gingival hyperplasia is not just bad for the look of your smile, since it is also bad for your oral health. It can actually feel very painful to some and increase your risk of having cavities form or being susceptible to gum disease. As you can imagine, all that inflamed gum tissues makes it harder to brush and floss like you should be doing on your own, which only causes the problem to get worse.

How Gingival Hyperplasia Is Treated

If you have large and puffy gums, sometimes all it takes is visiting the dentist regularly to keep your teeth clean. Getting a deep cleaning of your teeth helps get rid of the bacteria that may be forming underneath your gums and helps reduce that swelling and inflammation. 

However, it may not be that easy. Sometimes gingival hyperplasia is caused by certain medications causing an adverse reaction. You'll need to discuss this with your doctor to determine if there are alternative medicines that you can take, which will give you the same health benefits without the side effect of puffy gums. 

How Gingival Hyperplasia Can Be Surgically Corrected

There are a few surgical options that can help reduce the size of your gums that are worth asking your dentist about. Laser treatment is when lasers are used to cut away the inflamed gum tissue, and then the portions of the teeth covered by your gums will be scaled. There is also the option to get a gingivectomy, which is when the excess gum tissue is cut out and then stitched back up. Periodontal flap surgery is a third option, which is when the gums are separated to remove inflamed tissue. 

Reach out to a local family dental care office if you have questions or concerns about your inflamed gums.