Your gum and bone tissue need to fit very snugly all around your teeth the same as what a turtleneck fits around your neckline. With periodontal infection, the supporting bone and tissue is destroyed. Therefore, forming gum pockets surrounding your teeth.

How do gum pockets form?

Bacteria lives inside our mouths, it continually develops a sticky layer of plaque on the teeth, specifically around the gum area. Without removing it, the plaque can eventually harden and turn into tartar.

You can’t just brush tartar off, which means your dentist needs to remove it with a dental cleaning procedure.

Ultimately, these toxins coming from the bacteria can continue to develop more tartar. This will cause an inflammation of the gum tissues and create gingivitis. This swelling and inflammation that’s caused by tartar and plaque will result in gum pockets, causing an expansion in between your teeth and gums.

The gums pull away from the teeth, which can be a perfect place for even more tartar and plaque to hide. In time, it will inflame the tissues of the gums. This can cause the gum pockets to deepen and it will be a threat to your bone surrounding the teeth.

Reasons why you can develop gum pockets

Bacteria

Bacteria in plaque can start forming in the gum pockets and it’s the major reason for periodontal disease. Other factors like oral habits, different diseases and medicines, can also increase the risk for you to get a gum disease and even worsen it if an infection has already set in.

Genes

Certain people can be more liable to contract periodontal infection due to their genes. Although, that doesn’t make a gum infection inevitable to others. Ever if you are extremely prone to develop a periodontal infection, it can be controlled or prevented through proper oral care.

With the use of tobacco and smoking

With smoking your risk increases to develop periodontal infection, the longer and more you smoke, your risk gets even higher. Smoking may cause your periodontal infection to be more severe. It’s known to be the biggest reason to causes resistance against the treatment of the infection.

If you smoke you can collect additional tartar on your teeth that will cause deeper periodontal gum pockets when you already have a gum infection. You can also be more likely to have extra bone loss when the infection worsens.

Crowded teeth, misalignment, bridgework or braces

Any of these mentioned that cause difficulty with flossing or brushing the teeth, may leave you prone to enhanced tartar and plaque formation. If you have more tartar and plaque, your chances to develop gum infection rises.

Ask your dentist to explain how you can clean your teeth properly if you have braces or bridgework. With crooked or overcrowded teeth, he/she may recommend that you go for orthodontics. It can straighten your smile, as well as better your chances for preventing infections.

Clenching, grinding or gritting your teeth

Periodontal infection is not caused by these habits. However, if you already have inflamed gums, it will lead to extra severe infection. These habits can exert excessive force on your teeth, and the pressure will accelerate the collapse of periodontal bone and ligaments. Your dentist might recommend a custom made night guard to prevent any damage to your gums with this habit.

Stress

Your immune system can be weakening through stress worsening periodontal infection, in addition to making it harder to treat. Your body won’t be able to fight off the infection properly.

Fluctuating hormones

If the levels of hormones in your body fluctuate up or down, you can experience changes that may also occur in your mouth. Pregnancy, menopause, and puberty could momentarily increase your risk, as well as increase the severity of your gum infection.

Diseases

Specific diseases can increase your risk to develop a periodontal infection, for instance with diabetes, HIV, and rheumatoid arthritis. If you have any of these conditions, a periodontal infection will be more difficult to control. Your dentist can guide you on how to maintain a healthy mouth free of gum pocket infections.

Poor nutrition

Nutrition is very important to keep up your overall health and immune system. If you have a severe deficiency of vitamin C it definitely will be the cause of your bleeding gums.