Receding gums & black triangles

[AB2008]

hi all,

I posted a few months ago about receding gums and was reassured somewhat. I managed to get into the dentist and was given a different dentist from my usual lady who advised that there was receding and to keep on top of brushing and flossing. She then told me I could lose all my teeth due to the gum disease that I have which has scared the daylights out of me!!!

Over the past few days I have noticed now that I am getting black triangles between my teeth and the one that is scaring me the most is right between my 2 front teeth!

Does the receding and black triangles look awful and really bad?! Im so scared I darent eat or drink in case it makes it worse!

I really need a hygienist appointment as well but due to covid they are cancelling appointments and I’ve been told I’m not a ‘priority’

Please can somebody advise as I’ve been Googling different treatments and surgeries that they can do on my teeth to fix the black triangles. I’m 27F.

 

[MountainMama]

Honestly, I can barely even see the one between your front teeth. It looks more like a normal space than from receding gums. I can’t see any others. It is easy to see the flaws in yourself but others won’t see them. I am very self conscious of my front tooth, as it is an implant. To me, it stands out…different color and shape from my other teeth. The few people who I have told it is an implant say they never would have known had I not told them. We tend to fixate on things about our own teeth that others would never notice.

 

[Gordon]

You don't really have any black triangles. Your gums don't look that bad in the photo either, but it's hard to be sure from a photo.
Sure you could lose all your teeth from gum disease, but you would need to basically neglect them for the next 40 years. I doubt you'll be doing that!

 

[AB2008]

Thank you both, I’ve managed to get a better picture and I’m panicking because I can really see the black triangles between a lot of my teeth

 

[AB2008]

And another photo but not as a front camera selfie

 

[Gordon]

Your gums are perfectly fine. You're mistaking normal anatomy for something sinister.

You do need to work a bit harder on the lower front area, you have a tight lower lip attachment there, so it's awkward getting a brush in properly. Use 2 hands, one to move your lip out of the way and the other to brush.

 

[AB2008]

Thank you so much, I do find it hard brushing the bottom teeth and gums as my teeth are crooked and as you say I have a tight lower lip attachment. I’ll start doing as you say. Do you think the triangle thing between my top 2 teeth is bad? I find it really noticeable

 

[Gordon]

No, it's perfectly normal.

 

[AB2008]

Thank you so much Gordon, you’ve really eased my mind. I was convinced it was there because my gums had receded really badly!

 

[AB2008]

Hi all, I’ve just got back from the dentist and she measured around each tooth as 2mm which she said is good, she didn’t mention anything about the gaps between my teeth but did say she’s concerned that my gums are still red and inflamed as this indicates a ‘bigger issue’ so she’s booked me in for 6 months time and I’ve got to have 2 hygienist appointments before the . She did do a quick scale and polish and slipped a little bit which caused a lot of bleeding which she said is not good. My teeth and gums feel really funny now though and I’ve noticed between my front 2 teeth on the bottom that the gum has come away slightly from the tooth. Not sure if this will settle down?

But now I’m panicking even more because my teeth look awful after a clean!

 

[Gordon]

They always look worse after a clean. Just get stuck in with the maintenance regime and they'll be fine.

 

[AB2008]

I’m sorry to keep posting but I’m so panicky at the moment. I brushed my teeth well this morning and then brushed them again just now after my lunch and I’ve noticed where I’ve had the scale and polish at the bottom near where the dentist slipped, I have a massive black triangle bit which is really really noticeable when I smile and I don’t remember it being that big before it. I know I’m not supposed to worry about black triangles because it can be normal in some cases but I guess I just need some reassurance or something because I’m so nervous that when the hygienist has a go it will make them even worse

 

[AB2008]

Do you think there may be a surgery or something to get my gums replaced to cover any of the black triangles etc that show or would it not be worth it?

 

[letsconnect]

Hi, I've copied and pasted this reply from @Gordon from another post - it was in response to a very similar question (I presume the same applies here? someone correct me if I'm wrong):

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In your photo, that is just normal anatomy, some teeth have the contact point further up the crown than others do.

Actual "black triangles" occur where the interdental papilla has been lost due to disease, here is an example: