Gum recession, anyone?

[trunter]

Hey guys, I've been snusing regularly for about 6 months, I probably get through 5 portions on an average day. I just noticed today, that on the left side of my gums above my teeth the gum seems to have receeded back from the tooth slightly. It's only on one side, and I always switch sides after every portion. I've never had any irritation or pain, nor have my gums ever bled - does anyone else have any noticeable gum recession since using snus? No-one I know in Scotland uses snus so I've no-one to compare with here! :P my friends in Norway who use snus didn't have any gum recession as far as they could see.

[HK11]

I would be lying if I said I wasnt concerned about recession. Especially since Im using loose so much.

Im just doing what I can to minimize any recession and at worst, teeth are easier to replace than lungs

[Ainkor]

I've been snusing for about 10 months and if anything, any resession I had before has either completely stopped or even come back a bit if that's possible. I have a chip in one of my teeth that was right at the gum line when I quit smoking and now it is about half way covered (It's about 1 mm in length)

[Ragnar]

Overall my teeth/gums are in better shape now than before I started the snus.

That said, since my first days of snus, I've:

1-Cut my smoking in half
2-Bought a nice electric toothbrush
3-Been on a low-carb diet (no sugary anything)
4-Forced myself to brush twice a day (I was once a day for about 10 years)

So, how much Snus even fits in is anyone's guess.

[Ainkor]

MMM mmm... Gonna make me some BBQ tonight Ragnar :P

Just teasing yas, at least your pic isn't a belf.

[deebocools]

my gums look like hell. They looked fine before. Snus, and they look like S.

Sorry, that's the truth. I am raising money to make a dentist visit, I'll report back with official information

[Lucky Striker]

My teeth were bad anyway along with my gums. They appear to have STOPPED deteriorating with snus, which I also attribute to having stopped smoking.

My point is that in the four years I've been snusing I've noticed no ill effects. I suppose if you had really healthy dental conditions beforehand, you may see a difference, but for someone like me that had chronic gum disease it seems to have reversed the deterioration. My mouth is constantly full of saliva, which most dentists will tell you is desirable.

[mercvrivs]

Snus can contribute to gum recession. So can smoking. Since tobacco itself is an anti-septic, I would think that with proper dental hygiene it would not contribute to increased bacteria (ie: gum disease). Smoking, on the other hand, definitely does. Take your pick.

My dentist suggested moving the snus around more to prevent recession. Having something pressed up against your gums for hours every day tends to have at least a small effect.

[batchboy]

I just got back from getting my yearly check-up and I asked the dentist (who was a gum specialist) to check out my gums. I told him my situation, that I had used american dip for 4 years and got major gum recession on my lower gums. 2 years ago I started snusing and put it primarily in the upper right quadrant. He looked and said that there was no recession. But he quickly backtracked and said that he would have had to see my gums over the years. But he compared the gums on my right side (where i snus) and the left side (where i don't) and said there "might be some recession. So here's my theory - Use Snus, but follow it up with regular brushing (Sonicare is the best) and yearly cleanings and you should be fine.

[sgreger1]

I've been snusing for about 10 months and if anything, any resession I had before has either completely stopped or even come back a bit if that's possible. I have a chip in one of my teeth that was right at the gum line when I quit smoking and now it is about half way covered (It's about 1 mm in length)

I agree. I used to dip American stuff and my gums were always hurting and receeding, but since i've been snusing it seems like my dental status has increased. No complaints yet.

[Soft Morning, City!]

My dentist has acknowledged that my gum health has improved markedly since I started using snus almost two years ago. My gums used to be slightly puffy, but not anymore. He's noticed no recession as of yet and has suggested that I could keep it this way by keeping the snus off the gum line. I've been doing that since day one for comfort reasons. He doesn't think I have very much to worry about. He's just stoked that I don't smoke two packs per day anymore.

[deebocools]

yes, when I became more aware of it I started folding portions and keeping them off of the gum line.

since, nothing has improved or worsened, which is fine. being on the line(where it touches your teeth), is quite obviously not a good placement.

[MasterGuns]

recession of the gum line can also be cause by a crappy diet, drinking, stress, aging, what have you.
I noticed that my gums above my right side incisors and canines have receded a tad, but I've only been snusing around three months. I didn't pay much attention to my gum line until now, so I don't know if it was already receding due to the lack of sleep/stress/terrible diet of a college kid. All things considered, I'm sure snus doesn't help. I plan on visiting a dentist soon to find out what he says, if indeed the recession is serious, but at the same time I've done a horrible job of taking care of my teeth up to this point, even before snus.
I will be trying the folding techniques to keep the portion off my gum line as well.
And as far as I have read, gums don't naturally grow back, but they may drop back down after you stop smoking/eat bad food/dipping. Maybe I'll pack my portions on the left side and see if my right side gums change at all

[harpdog]

I have been snusing for about 6 months, yes I do have favourite spot for my snus. I use extra sterk lös, General and Oden. I keep a prilla in for hours.

today I noticed a burn on my usual sweet spot and looked in the mirror and sure enough the gum on 1 tooth is now a few millimeters and higher and noticeably higher than the opposite gum on the otherside. This was not like this last month it is a very recent change.

This is what it says on notherner's website in the health section

Use of snus can also cause gum recession (gingivitis), damages that are irreversible and occur more commonly in users of loose snus than in users of portion-packed snus (Andersson and Axéll, 1989a; Frithiof et al., 1983; Modéer et al., 1980).

I am a little shocked that after 6 months there is a significant change.

To be fair my gums were not in an A1 condition to start with, I smoked a lot for many years. however this was not so bad in my top gums only bottom ones.

Shit is there no way to use tobacco without some kind of damage. Perhaps I will have to use portions from now on.

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

Shit is there no way to use tobacco without some kind of damage. Perhaps I will have to use portions from now on.

There's always nasal snuff man... that's a form of tobacco I doubt you'd ever get any noticeable damage from...