Who we are

About GumScout

A quiet instrument for the question people ask the bathroom mirror and cannot answer from memory: are my gums actually moving?

GumScout started with a search most people make at some point, often after a hygienist said "a little recession here": are my gums receding? The answers online are scattered across product pages, forums and practice websites, and many of them are selling something or promise what nobody can deliver. None of them can answer the real question, because the real question is about time. A gum line that has sat in the same place for years is one thing. One that keeps moving is another. Only photos taken the same way, months apart, can tell those apart. We wanted one place that answers it the way a good dentist would: here is what it looks like, here is what to watch, here is when to come in.

What GumScout is

• The app (iPhone first): four guided photos a month, front with the lips pulled back, left side, right side and the lower front teeth, with a faint ghost of last month's photo so the angle matches. The read gives a GumScout stage from 0 to 4 as a range with a confidence level, a Gum Score from 0 to 100 for each zone, the signs the AI can actually see, a comparison with your earlier check-ins, and one of four verdicts: Looks stable, Keep watching, Changing, or See your dentist. Every check-in stays on your phone, and Pro can turn the last 3, 6 or 12 months into a one-page report for your dentist.
• This site: the same stage, zones and verdicts as free tools you can use by eye, plus plain-language guides to the questions people search most, each written from named dental sources and each ending with when to see a dentist.

What GumScout is not

GumScout is not a dentist. GumScout gives an AI estimate from photos. It is not a dental exam and cannot diagnose gum disease. It cannot measure pocket depth the way a dentist's probe does, it cannot see bone the way an X-ray does, and it cannot tell you why a gum has moved. Gums do not grow back on their own, and GumScout never recommends a treatment, a product or a dose; a dentist or periodontist is who treats recession. If your gums bleed on their own, there is pus or a bump on the gum, swelling, a loose tooth, pain, or a tooth that looks longer within weeks, see your dentist soon.

How we write the guides

• Every health fact comes from a source we name on the page, such as the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Periodontology, the NIH National Library of Medicine, the NHS, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and peer-reviewed periodontal research.
• We describe brushes, pastes, rinses and flossers by type, never by brand, and we never print a strength, an amount or a schedule for anything a dentist prescribes.
• We never invent ratings, review counts or user numbers, and we never use before-and-after photos that are not our own consented ones or plain illustrations.
• We use the app's own four verdicts on every page, so the site and the app always say the same thing.
• A dental reviewer is a goal, not something we claim. Until a named reviewer appears on a page, no page has been reviewed by a dentist.

Who makes it

GumScout is made by Viral Tandel, who publishes apps as Viral Labs. It is an independent project, not affiliated with any dentist, dental practice, dental association, university, dental brand or other app, and not affiliated with the organizations it cites. Questions, corrections and ideas: viral.b.tandel@gmail.com. Corrections from dentists, periodontists and hygienists are especially welcome.