How To Treat Gingivitis

Hi, I'm Brian Halvorsen, and I'm a dentist. I've been in the practice for over 35 years, and I've written a book about my principles on holistic dentistry. The book is called "Great teeth for life.

" This video is about gingivitis, or the early signs of gum disease. It is characterized by often swollen, bleeding gums, which sometimes can be sore. Now, the cause, often, and most frequently is no or very little effective brushing.

And so, if you do not brush your teeth, over a period of say 24 hours, it is almost certain that you will have a bit of gingivitis. Now, the contradiction to that is if you want to actually prevent gingivitis, you need to actually brush those gums that are red or swollen. So in the process of brushing, the gum may well bleed more.

Do not be afraid. It's not like trying to brush, say, a cut, where the more you brush, the more it bleeds. Because the gingivitis was caused by a lack of brushing, so you have to reverse that by actually brushing and cleaning.

That doesn't mean you viciously brush, but if you continually gently brush over a period of a day, then quickly those gums will shrink back to normal, hopefully pink looking gums. If you find however, that your brushing these areas, you're bleeding, and they do not stop, I think this is the time when possibly you ought to get the consult and the advice of a dentist or a hygienist. Now gingivitis is virtually, well it is, the most common disease in the world.

There's very very few people on this planet who do not suffer from some form of gingivitis. But, it is the early part of gum disease, and therefore it is treatable, and believe it or not, reversible, meaning that the gums may swell up a little bit, they may bleed, they may be a bit sore, but with the right technique, you can actually reverse this, and they can return to health. And so, this is a little bit of advise on how to prevent and treat gingivitis.

Thank you. .