Gingivitis is a kind of disease condition which usually affects gums which surround teeth. It is nothing but inflammation of the gums or gingiva. It is one of the various periodontal diseases which affect the tissues around the teeth and gums.

Generally the periodontal diseases can be classified according to their severity. They normally range from mild gingivitis, to more severe periodontitis, at a very severe stage acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, which can be life threatening if proper care isn’t given can also occur.

In normal cases action of bacteria are main causes of inflammation of the gums. Although bacteria are found normally in our bodies and help in providing protective effects most of the time, they can be harmful too. For bacteria, our mouth will be the perfect place to multiply. Bacteria can survive easily in warm moist environments and also if food supply is also there it’ll be just great for them. That makes mouth a hot favourite among them. If our body was not blessed by a healthy immune system to protect us from infections, the bacteria must have multiplied rapidly and it could have been harmful for us.

Gingivitis mostly occurs when bacteria begins to invade soft tissues inside gum, bones in mouth, and other places where they are not supposed to be present. From the moment of infection, bacteria begins to harm us instead of helping us.

The most common cause for gingivitis to occur is the bacterial plaque, which acts to initiate the body’s host response. Action of bacterial plaque will often lead to the destruction of the gingival tissues. Plaque starts accumulating everywhere, in the small gaps between teeth, in the gingival grooves etc. Even if these accumulations are very very low, the bacterium in them will start to produce harmful chemicals, such as degrative enzymes, and also toxins, that create inflammation of the gingival or gum tissue.

It is always recommended that a dentist’s help should be sought soon after starts gingivitis appears. Dentist will check for the symptoms of gingivitis, and may also examine the amount of plaque accumulated in the oral cavity.

If gingivitis is not responsive to treatment, it’s better to seek help from a good periodontist for doing further treatment and get gingivitis cured.