Fifty shades of pink

Coming into the summer, I felt like refreshing our lounge with a new palette.

On the face of it, what was supposed to be a pretty straightforward task, picking a colour scheme turned into a bigger job than I’d first anticipated…

It’s been shown that blue and green shades give a sense of calm, yellow: joy and purple: luxury, opulence and warmth.

On deciding on the theme for my lounge, there was then the mammoth task of deciding on the specific shade, as I was looking at different hues of purples, lilacs and pinks, my thought process took me to gums!

Allow me to explain further…

When I was a child (not that long ago..!) I remember my mum dutifully taking me to see our local friendly neighbourhood dentist. She would check my teeth and then when talking about how clean they were she would mention the colour of my gums. She would explain that they should be a healthy shade of pink.

The colour of your gums really is impacted by how well you clean your teeth. ‘Gingivitis’ – as you may hear your dentist mention – is an unhealthy gum state. Gums with gingivitis are often bright red, swollen, sore and bleed.

Happily, it’s a completely reversible condition and just indicates that your gums are in need of a little more TLC… (think flossing!)

Dentists, therapists and hygienists recommend brushing at the gum line, it’s a myth that brushing makes them bleed, gums bleed because of the buildup of plaque – the white fuzzy stuff that collects at the gums. It sets hard if it’s not brushed off within 48 hours and then becomes the hardened tartar (or calculus as the dental folk call it) – at this stage, it needs to be professionally cleaned with a scale and polish or hygiene treatment.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’ve still not decided on a colour for my lounge…!