Gum Health Assessments
Gum disease is quiet, common and largely preventable — provided somebody is measuring.
Early Detection
Caught before bone is lost.
Thorough
Every tooth measured properly.
Preventive
Protects the bone underneath.
Expert Care
Dentists and hygienists.
Teeth are only as sound as the gums holding them.
Gum disease is the most common oral condition there is, and one of the few that is almost entirely preventable. The catch is that it does not hurt until late, so it is found by measuring rather than by noticing.
A gum assessment gives us numbers rather than impressions: pocket depths around every tooth, recorded and compared over time, so any deterioration shows up while it is still reversible.
What the assessment involves
A detailed examination of the gums and the bone supporting the teeth — well beyond what you could judge at home.
Your dentist or hygienist will:
- Look at the gums for redness, swelling and recession
- Measure the pocket around every tooth with a fine probe — 1 to 3mm is healthy
- Note where the gum bleeds on probing, which indicates active inflammation
- Check for bone loss and any structural change
- Record it all as a BPE score, the standard used across UK practices
That score is what tells us whether anything needs doing. We will show you the numbers and explain what they mean rather than simply pronouncing on them.
Why it is worth measuring
Gum disease advances slowly and painlessly, which is precisely why most people who have it do not know. It runs in two stages:
Gingivitis
The early, reversible stage. Gums go red and puffy and bleed when brushed. Better cleaning plus a professional scale will take it back to healthy — nothing is lost permanently at this point.
Periodontitis
If gingivitis is left, the inflammation reaches the bone. Bone that goes does not come back, and enough of it lost means the tooth eventually loosens. This stage is managed rather than cured.
There is also a growing body of research linking gum disease to heart disease, diabetes, stroke and complications in pregnancy. It is not only a dental matter.
Regular assessment is how the whole thing gets caught at the stage where treatment is simple.
On the day
Quick, straightforward, and it should not hurt:
- A look — redness, swelling, recession and anything else visible.
- Measuring — a thin probe slid gently between tooth and gum. You will feel pressure; you should not feel pain.
- The score — results recorded as a BPE and explained to you properly.
- What next — from adjusting your home routine through to a scale and polish or deep cleaning.
Fifteen to twenty minutes, and usually folded into a hygiene appointment.
What to watch for
Worth booking in if you have noticed:
- Any bleeding when you brush — a little is still not normal
- Gums that look red, swollen or feel tender
- Teeth that appear longer as the gum pulls back
- Bad breath or a taste that will not shift
- Teeth that have loosened or moved
- New gaps opening up between teeth
- Any pus at the gum margin
And book anyway if you have noticed nothing. Absence of symptoms is not evidence of health here — that is the whole difficulty with this condition.
What treatment looks like
It depends entirely on how far things have gone:
Improved Home Care
For early gingivitis, changing how you clean between the teeth is genuinely enough to reverse it. We will show you the technique rather than just recommending it.
Scale & Polish
Removing plaque and hardened tartar from above the gumline so the inflammation settles and the gum can tighten back. The standard answer for mild disease.
Deep Clean
Where pockets have deepened, root planing clears the deposits from below the gumline and smooths the root so the gum can reattach.
Ongoing Monitoring
Once things are stable, the interval between reviews is set by how your pockets behave, not by a standard six months.
Wherever you are on that scale, we will tell you plainly and work through it with you.