If you went to a mirror right now could you tell if your gums are healthy or not? What if you touched them and saw if they changed color with pressure? Many of us have to rely on our dentists to tell us if our gums are healthy, but there are a few easy ways you can tell at home between your routine appointments if there is anything to worry about.

An easy way to tell if your gums are healthy is by brushing and flossing your teeth.  When you brush or floss do you bleed at all? If the answer is no, you are in good shape.

Another way to tell if your gums are unhealthy is if they are red, swollen or tender. Healthy gums should generally be pink in color and not swollen.

When you come in for your regular exam at Brockport Dental, we perform a few checks to see if you do in fact have healthy gums. These include using a periodontal probe to check the depths of the pockets surrounding each tooth. A healthy gum line will have pockets that are 3 millimeters or less in depth, if you have gum disease, your pockets will be deeper than this amount.

Another visual check that a dentist performs is when they are probing during the cleaning. If you do not bleed, your gums are generally considered healthy. Your gums should hold tight to your teeth, and be able to resist movement when pressed upon by the probes.

If you do have healthy gums, your dentist will recommend that you keep you your routine care and home and maintain your regular checkup schedule of twice per year. However, if your gums are unhealthy, your dentist may recommend you start a treatment plan to monitor and try to improve your gum health.

The best way to find out your dental health is, of course, seeing the dentist. At Brockport Dental, we offer early morning and late evening hours to help provide a more accommodating schedule so that even the most busy among us can schedule a visit at a time that’s convenient for them. To schedule your next appointment, call us today at 585-589-0000 or request an appointment online now.