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Thin / Receeding gums - freaking out

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Lauralouise101

Junior member
Joined
Aug 24, 2021
Messages
18
Location
UK
So I’ve finally plucked up the courage to book an appointment for the first time in 6 years. I have Generalised Anxiety Disorder and have been on medication for this for 5 years.

I’ve been taking a closer look at my mouth before my appointment which is on Friday and have noticed my bottom gums are really thin at the bottom. I can’t remember if this has always been the case and now I’m freaking out on what this means. In some places they’re quite translucent and I can see the tooth under the gum. Is this a disaster? I can’t get my mind off it and it’s still 3 days until I see the dentist. Any help? I want to be prepared on what the dentist might say.
 

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Hi Lauralouise101,

Definitely not a disaster. Different people have different thickness of gum and bone. Yours in a bit thinner than some people. This means it could potentially be more prone to the gum receding but things are actually looking fine from what I can see. The great news is you’re attending now rather than waiting until there are problems.

This means your dentist can give you tailored advice about how to maintain the health of the gums in this area and reduce the chances of problems arising longer term.

Congratulations on booking and appointment and getting back in. It’s a really positive step for you.

Niall
 
Hi Niall

Thank you so much for your reply, this has helped calm me down. I made the mistake of googling which scared me about advanced gum disease but I have never had any bleeding and haven’t noticed any sensitivity so the symptoms didn’t quite fit.

Good to know it’s different for different people. I’m going to ask the dentist about grinding my teeth as I’m not sure if I do this when I sleep. I wake up with the inside of my cheek sore and it has a white line where my teeth meet. The bottom front teeth have also slowly been moving back to their pre brace position which makes me think the years wearing a brace was a waste and the orthodontist is one of the reasons I have dental anxiety!

I’m going to stop googling and see what the dentist says.
 
My pleasure! Yip, your dentist will tailor advice for you and your mouth. And you’re right - googling dental problems doesn’t tend to be helpful!!
 
Thanks. I’m also telling myself that as this is the first appointment, it’ll just be a check up and x rays, no actually treatment. Then if anything is needed then I can research what’s actually wrong, rather than imagining thousands of different scenarios.

According to google, every dental issue means definite tooth loss :( but I know there are a lot of treatments available to prevent this and as nothing hurts / bleeds I’m taking this as a positive. It’s just my anxiety that is slightly out of control.
 
Generally these days we do all we can to avoid removing teeth. No pain or bleeding is certainly a good sign.

As you’re not in pain, the first visit will almost certainly just be a consultation to find out all the info and do an examination of the mouth. If you want to confirm this then it’s probably a good idea to just let your dentist know ahead of the visit that you don’t want any treatment done on the first day. Give them an email or a call to clarify and you’ll feel more in control of the situation.

You’ll feel a lot better about it all once you’ve been in. It helps hugely to confirm what is and what’s not going on and you’ll leave with a plan on how to get things healthy and make things healthy. ?
 
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