February is Gum disease awareness month

February 10, 2021

February is the one month that is filled with a lot of events such as Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and especially Black History month. But the one thing that we forget is that February is Gum Disease Awareness month! A really good article published in 2012 showed that nearly 1 out of 2 American adults aged 30 and over has periodontal disease. As they get older, it increases to 70.1%. The percentage increases if you also include gingivitis in the mix, which this study does not include.

The prevalence of this disease in our country should not be happening today. Periodontal disease is not a lost cause and can be maintained and stabilized to a healthy state. As stated in this article, “periodontal disease can lead to tooth loss, if left untreated.” Too often oral care has been de-emphasized among our population. We need to be able to educate our patients the importance of keeping up with our dental visits (which understandably may be difficult in this pandemic), ask questions if we have not been diagnosed properly, and be able to keep up with our dental hygiene (which should consist of MORE THAN just brushing and flossing). Feel free to sign up to the email list at www.ismartgums.com/sign-up for a FREE guide to the “4 steps to obtain perfect oral hygiene” and a video outlining these steps.