04/18/2026
Been told your gums are receding because you brush too hard? That's not the whole story. π¦·
This is something I find myself saying more and more in practice. Yes, technique matters. But so often, gum recession is really a bite problem in disguise.
When the mechanics of how your teeth come together are off, that stress has to go somewhere. And a lot of the time, it goes right to the gumline.
So when I see recession, my first thought now isn't "brush gentler." It's, what is the bite doing? What are the muscles doing?
That's exactly what my conversation with Karese Laguerre opened up for me, and honestly, even I walked away with new things to think about.
Addressing the muscles alongside the bite may be the difference between watching things get worse and actually turning it around, before it becomes gum surgery or a cracked tooth. πΏ