Dental investigators say that the causes of bleeding gums are many, but generally the basic cause is lack of good oral hygiene habits since often there is a packing of food between the teeth. It is true that a deficiency of vitamin C can also cause bleeding gums, but the most common cause of this is when one is improperly brushing his teeth and gums. When the bleeding gums are not immediately treated, it can advance to a more serious stage which is normally called pyorrhoea. Teeth may need to be extracted when the progress of pyorrhoea is not halted.   The buildup of the whitish stuff on the teeth that is difficult to see and sticks to the teeth, or what is commonly called as plaque, often starts gum disorders. This bacteria laden dental plaque builds up whenever you do a poor job of brushing your teeth. If one brushes his teeth regularly and properly using a moderately soft brush, he can keep the formation of the plaque at a very low level. Gums can recede when hard brushes are used that is why most people use moderately soft brushes for their gums. Hard brushes exert a saw like action which causes severe tooth erosion along the gum line and they also cannot help the user since it cannot clean the parts between the teeth where the plaque usually forms. It is important to prevent the formation of dental plaque because it is closely related to gum disease. Some things have been learned that will help you to reduce the amount of plaque that forms such as restricting the amount of sugar intake; this has been found to cut down greatly on the formation of dental plaque.