South Kensington
- 20 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3DL
- Open seven days a week
- 020 7183 2362
Gum health · Wimpole Street, Marylebone
Gum health in Marylebone
Teeth are only as secure as the gum and bone that hold them, and gum disease remains the main reason adults in the UK lose teeth. It rarely hurts until it is advanced, so the work at Wimpole Street begins with measurement: six readings around every tooth, radiographs to see the bone, and an honest staging of where you stand. From there the options run from a £89 hygiene visit for early inflammation, through periodontal therapy from £850 for disease that has reached the bone, to treatments for recession and for gum lines that are uneven or show too much when you smile. None of it reverses bone that has gone; all of it is aimed at keeping what remains.
Treatments
Disease, recession and the shape of the gum line
Periodontal disease treatment
From £850
Charting, root surface cleaning under anaesthetic and lifelong supportive care for gum disease that has reached the bone. Controlled rather than reversed.
Read moreReceding gums treatment
Root coverage from £195
Finding what is driving the gum down the root, protecting the exposed surface and, in selected sites, grafting to thicken thin tissue.
Read moreGum contouring
From £300
Trimming and reshaping an uneven gum line by a millimetre or two under local anaesthetic, often as the first step before veneers or bonding.
Read moreGummy smile treatment
From £300
Working out whether gum, teeth, jaw or lip is responsible for a broad band of gum on smiling, and matching the treatment to that cause.
Read more
Staging
Where you are decides what we do
The same bleeding gum can be a two-week problem or a lifelong one depending on whether bone has been lost. Charting tells us which, and the treatment follows from it.
Healthy
Pink, firm gum that hugs each tooth, no bleeding on brushing or probing, pockets of three millimetres or less.
Gingivitis
Red, swollen margins that bleed easily. No bone has been lost yet, and a hygiene visit plus better cleaning at home reverses it.
Periodontitis
Infection has tracked beneath the gum and bone is dissolving. Pockets deepen, teeth may loosen. Treatable, but the lost support does not return.
Recession and aesthetics
Gum that has retreated down the root, or sits unevenly, or shows too much. Not always disease, but often worth treating for comfort or appearance.
Principles
How gum care is run at Wimpole Street
Chart before treating
Pocket depths and bone levels are recorded at the start so that improvement, or its absence, is measured rather than guessed.
Home care carries the result
Interdental brushes of the right size, used daily, do more for the gums than any appointment. We fit them and show you.
Risk factors are part of the plan
Smoking, diabetes and certain medicines all blunt healing. They are discussed openly because they change the likely outcome.
Maintenance is not optional
Periodontitis is a susceptibility that does not go away. Supportive visits every three to six months are what keep teeth over the decades.
Early signs
When to book a gum assessment
Gum disease is quiet. Bleeding when you brush or floss is the one signal most people notice, and it is often dismissed as brushing too hard when it is more likely to mean the opposite. Bad breath that returns within an hour of cleaning, gums that look puffy or dusky red at the edges, teeth that appear to be getting longer, and small gaps opening between front teeth that used to touch are all reasons to have pockets measured rather than wait for the next routine review.
Pain is a poor guide. Periodontitis rarely hurts until a tooth is loose or an abscess forms, by which point bone has already been lost. A six-point pocket chart takes a few minutes, costs nothing extra within an examination, and tells us whether you need a hygienist, a periodontal programme or simply reassurance.
If you have been told in the past that you have "deep pockets" or "bone loss" and have not had a supportive visit within six months, that alone is enough reason to book.
Read further
Conditions, hygiene and comparisons
Marylebone, W1
Gum assessments from 1 October 2026
Register for the Wimpole Street diary, or have your gums charted at South Kensington or St Paul's now so that treatment can start in Marylebone the week we open.
Opening 1 October 2026
Wimpole Street is not yet seeing patients. Until then, please book or call our South Kensington clinic on 020 7183 2362 or our St Paul's clinic on 020 7183 3709. Questions about the new clinic: wimpolestreet@md.co.uk.
Until we open
Need an appointment before 1 October 2026?
The same clinical team already works from two other Medical & Dental clinics. Book at either one now and, if you prefer, move your ongoing care to Wimpole Street once the doors open.
St Paul's, City of London
- 5 Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7AQ
- Open Monday to Friday
- 020 7183 3709
