{"id":629,"date":"2023-09-13T22:40:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T22:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/?p=629"},"modified":"2023-10-13T22:43:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T22:43:08","slug":"interesting-facts-gum-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Gum Disease Is Unpleasant, but It\u2019s Also Interesting! Here Are Some Fun Facts to Chew On"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Woman<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Maybe you\u2019ve heard that gum disease is bad, but you\u2019re not entirely sure why. Luckily for you, September is Gum Care Month, making it a great time to learn about taking care of your gums<\/a> and the consequences of failing to do so! Knowing what you\u2019re up against can give you the tools you need to avoid or deal with it, so here are a few interesting facts about gum disease that are better read about than experienced!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Gum Disease Comes in Stages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plaque is a transparent film that develops over your teeth as bacteria multiply in your mouth, and it will continue to accumulate unless it is regularly removed. Plaque building up at the gumline can irritate the gums, leading to inflammation called gingivitis. This is the first stage of gum disease, and afflicted gums can show symptoms like bleeding, swelling, and an angry red color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If gingivitis is allowed to progress, it will advance to a much more severe stage of infection called periodontitis. Periodontitis degrades both the jawbone and the gum tissue and will eventually lead to tooth loss. In fact, gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gum Disease Can Affect More Than Your Gums<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When your gums become infected, the blood vessels within them can spread the bacteria to other parts of the body. This can lead to potentially life-threatening secondary infections such as sepsis. These bacteria can also spread from your mouth into your airway where they can cause respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make matters worse, these bacteria in the bloodstream may lead to further accumulation of plaque in the blood vessels, which can stress the cardiovascular system and contribute to heart disease or heart attacks. The effort of constantly fighting a chronic infection can also strain the endocrine system, aggravating or raising the risk of developing diabetes. It gets even worse when you consider that diabetes hinders healing and the immune system, making it harder for your body to fight gum disease. Dealing with gum disease and diabetes can lead to a brutal cycle of one worsening the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gum Disease Can Spread to Other People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most people don\u2019t find bleeding gums to be very romantic. Unfortunately, gum disease can be spread through oral contact like kissing or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It can even be passed from one person to another due to double-dipping food items in a shared bowl. Pregnant women are more prone to inflamed gums due to hormonal changes, and for this reason, many OB doctors recommend that they have regular dental exams so they don\u2019t pass gum disease to their unborn child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While gum disease is gross, contagious, and dangerous to your overall health, it is completely preventable in most cases. Practicing excellent oral hygiene, seeing your dentist regularly, and making smart choices about what you eat and drink can minimize your risk of developing it and keep your smile free of bleeding and irritation for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. J. Robert Donnelly earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio after serving as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is a proud member of many dental organizations, including the American Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. His office in San Marcos, TX offers family, cosmetic, restorative, and emergency dentistry in addition to periodontal treatments. For more information on gum disease, contact his office online<\/a> or dial (512) 396-5225<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe you\u2019ve heard that gum disease is bad, but you\u2019re not entirely sure why. Luckily for you, September is Gum Care Month, making it a great time to learn about taking care of your gums and the consequences of failing to do so! Knowing what you\u2019re up against can give you the tools you need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Marcos Dental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dr_donnelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dr_donnelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dr_donnelly\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e\"},\"headline\":\"Gum Disease Is Unpleasant, but It\u2019s Also Interesting! Here Are Some Fun Facts to Chew On\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e\"},\"description\":\"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gum Disease Is Unpleasant, but It\u2019s Also Interesting! Here Are Some Fun Facts to Chew On\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"San Marcos Dental\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e\",\"name\":\"dr_donnelly\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"dr_donnelly\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/dr_donnelly\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly","description":"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly","og_description":"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/","og_site_name":"San Marcos Dental","article_published_time":"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"dr_donnelly","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dr_donnelly","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/"},"author":{"name":"dr_donnelly","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e"},"headline":"Gum Disease Is Unpleasant, but It\u2019s Also Interesting! Here Are Some Fun Facts to Chew On","datePublished":"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/"},"wordCount":604,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/","name":"What Is Interesting About Gum Disease? | Dr. J. Robert Donnelly","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-13T22:40:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-13T22:43:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e"},"description":"Since September is Gum Care Month, here are some interesting facts about gum disease so you can rest assured that you want to do everything you can to avoid it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_470095317__17___1697235550_53329.jpg","width":800,"height":533},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/interesting-facts-gum-disease\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gum Disease Is Unpleasant, but It\u2019s Also Interesting! Here Are Some Fun Facts to Chew On"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/","name":"San Marcos Dental","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/104b0cc21bf0a7a204e7165b6552cb3e","name":"dr_donnelly","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9ec2e1a14a8729c00f3318ee83603590243c77aa2b248a2339e90f31d8adad0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"dr_donnelly"},"url":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/author\/dr_donnelly\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanmarcosdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}