If your gums bleed when brushing your teeth, you don’t need to put up with this problem. This is a fairly common phenomenon that occurs in children and adults. There can be several reasons for the pathology: from improper brushing of teeth to serious diseases that occur hidden in the body.
Healthy gums should not bleed. If you see blood in your saliva while brushing your teeth, it means that not everything is in order, something has gone wrong in the body. Do not aggravate the problem, contact your dentist if you notice that your gums are bleeding. The doctor will prescribe the correct treatment.
Bleeding gums and other symptoms
Bleeding should already be considered the main symptom of gum disease, but this phenomenon is also often accompanied by such manifestations as:
- bright red gums and swelling
- pain when eating and when touched
- specific smell and altered taste
- plaque at the edge of the gums
- high concentration of saliva
Any of these symptoms are a good reason to visit your doctor's office. You should also remember: bleeding gums often develop against the background of poor oral hygiene and reduced immunity. Read more about this in a separate article.
Surgery
If the gums are severely inflamed and there are deep periodontal pockets, standard professional cleaning may not be effective. To combat inflammation in such cases, surgical treatment is indicated.
- Flap surgery - cutting off the affected areas of soft tissue, removing bacterial deposits under the gum, applying sutures.
- Open curettage is effective for periodontitis and is aimed at deep cleansing of periodontal pockets from granulations and tartar.
The doctor will determine the appropriate treatment tactics after examining the patient.
Why do my gums bleed when brushing my teeth?
Hormonal background
Hormonal changes (mostly affecting pregnant women and teenagers) are one of the many causes of bleeding gums. Dentists note: hormonal changes in the body are accompanied by changes in the chemical composition of saliva, which leads to rapid mineralization of plaque on the teeth.
Lack of vitamins
A deficiency of vitamins C or K also causes blood to appear on the gums. An insufficient amount of vitamin C (especially during seasonal vitamin deficiency, a decrease in general immunity) leads to rapid wear of blood vessels and bleeding gums, and the lack of vitamin K, responsible for blood clotting, depletes the gums and makes them extremely sensitive and loose.
Microflora
Bacteria inhabiting the oral cavity are responsible for the accumulation of dental plaque, which can, over time, with poor hygiene, become tartar, causing inflammation and bleeding.
Changes in the composition of saliva in the body against the background of periodontitis and gingivitis directly affect both the respiratory tract and the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
How to treat bleeding at home
If a person is prone to bleeding gums, it is very important to pay special attention to hygiene issues.
- Choosing a toothpaste. It is better to use high-quality specialized toothpastes - Lakalut, Blanks, Mexidol. If your gums are bleeding, Parodontax paste is effective.
- Rinse solutions. They reduce the risk of inflammatory processes. It is recommended to use rinsers “Perio-Aid”, “VitizOrthodontic”, “PresiDent”, “Forest Balsam”, etc.
- Antiseptics. Used for sanitation of the oral cavity. Sanitation is carried out with Eludril, Lugol's solution, Chlorhexidine, Corsodil, Miramistin, Novoimanin, Furacilin solution 0.2%, Iodinol, Chlorphyllipt, etc. Such solutions are used in courses. They should not be used for more than ten days.
- Tablets that dissolve. Septolete, Faringosept, Grammidin, Hexaliz, Dekamin, etc. will help overcome the infection. They cannot be used for a long time; as a rule, the dentist prescribes a course of treatment.
- Means for healing mucous membranes. Rotokan, Salvin, Stomatofit, Sea buckthorn oil, Solcoseryl paste, Parodontocide spray, MetragilDenta gel.
- Ascorutin. Reduces capillary fragility. Course of application – 1 week.
Causes of gum bleeding when brushing teeth
Why do my gums bleed when brushing my teeth? The causes of bleeding gums can be different, and one of them is mechanical damage. The simplest thing is inept or hasty handling of a toothbrush. The situation can be the most everyday: you are late for work, you decide to reduce the usual time for brushing your teeth, you start aggressively pressing the brush on your teeth - and here is the result: the gum tissue is damaged and bleeding. It's unpleasant, but not fatal. Another reason from the same series is an incorrectly chosen toothbrush: your teeth and gums are sensitive, periodically react sharply to hot or cold, and instead of a brush with soft or medium bristles, you chose one with hard ones. The result: severe bleeding, pain, inflammation and even slight detachment of the gum from the tooth. Therefore, it is important to choose the right brush.
Why you shouldn’t ignore bleeding gums
If you notice that your gums are bleeding and there is pain when brushing your teeth, you should visit the dentist without delaying it. The fact is that gum disease can have disastrous consequences - tooth loss. Gingivitis and periodontal disease develop over a long period of time and do not have an acute phase, but in an advanced state it is completely impossible to cure periodontal disease. According to statistics, in Russia 60% of the population suffers from this disease. It is better to treat gums in the initial stages.
The first symptoms that you should immediately pay attention to are bleeding, swelling and changes in the shade of the gums. Periodontal disease is also accompanied by bad breath. When periodontal disease affects the teeth, teeth may lengthen, roots become visible, teeth become loose and their position changes.
The trigger for contacting a specialist should be the presence of dental plaque, stone and other deposits. By brushing your teeth on time, you can avoid serious damage to your gums. Another obvious symptom of periodontal disease or gingivitis is pain when chewing solid food.
What to do if your gums constantly bleed?
The chronic nature of bleeding gums is an alarm bell for any person. How to treat and what to do in such a situation? Some important tips for preventing and treating bleeding gums.
- Choose the right toothbrush, floss and toothpaste. The toothbrush and floss should not be hard, and the toothpaste should not contain abrasive particles.
- Switch to balanced foods. Lack of vitamins (for example, group B, as well as C, K, B, A and E) and minerals (for example, zinc, calcium) destroys teeth and depletes gums. Eat more solid vegetables, meat, dairy products, citrus fruits and nuts.
- Visit your dentist. Timely professional teeth cleaning by a specialist will help prevent the development of gum diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis.
- Avoid mouthwashes that contain alcohol. Although alcohol-containing rinses kill most bacteria, they dry out the gums excessively, which only aggravates the course of oral diseases due to bleeding gums.
- Give up bad habits. Smoking and alcohol irritate the mucous membrane in the mouth and worsen gum disease.
ethnoscience
In combination with traditional methods of therapy, it is permissible to carry out treatment with folk remedies in consultation with the dentist. Infusions based on medicinal plants (chamomile, calendula, yarrow) will help quickly relieve inflammation. The preparation can be purchased at any pharmacy. A tablespoon of dry raw materials must be poured with a liter of boiling water and left under a closed lid until it cools. Before use, the product must be strained.
A solution based on salt and soda also has an antibacterial effect. A teaspoon of the composition should be diluted with warm boiled water and rinsed 3-4 times a day. Aloe juice also helps speed up the process of restoration of damaged gum tissue.
Bleeding when brushing teeth in pregnant women
Reduced immunity
Bleeding gums in expectant mothers often occur when hormonal levels change. This leads to an inevitable decline in immunity (both general and local - in the oral cavity) and an imbalance in the acid-base balance, which provokes the growth of bacteria and accelerates the accumulation of plaque. All together causes inflammation, pain when brushing teeth and bleeding.
Poor hygiene
During pregnancy, gums bleed when brushing your teeth, also due to poor oral hygiene, or even lack thereof, as a result of which harmful bacteria multiply on the gums, contributing to the formation of plaque on the teeth. Hence inflammation, redness, pain - and, as a result, gingivitis, which over time can develop into a much more serious form - periodontitis.
Lack of calcium
Pregnancy is a huge burden on the female body. Calcium deficiency in an organism experiencing severe stress leads to the development of gingivitis, therefore, in the treatment of bleeding gums during pregnancy, an integrated approach is important: proper nutrition, vitamins and healthy sleep.
Important!
Choose the right brush and don’t forget that you need to change it every 3 months. Remember: a toothbrush is a purely individual thing, no one but you should use it. Also rinse the brush thoroughly after each use.
How to deal with inflammation?
To prevent or eliminate gum inflammation after professional tartar cleaning, it is important to follow your dentist's recommendations.
- After professional oral hygiene, do not consume hot and cold foods and drinks for 2-3 hours, coffee and juices for about 12 hours.
- Avoid roughage and solid foods for a day.
- Buy a new toothbrush with soft bristles to prevent injury to the gum tissue.
- Take biocomplexes with a balanced composition, which includes vitamins A, PP, D, as well as phosphorus and calcium.
To prevent complications and re-formation of dental plaque, regularly perform professional oral hygiene and visit your dentist every 6 months.
Diagnostics
Treatment of absolutely any disease begins with diagnosis. Anzhelika Guryeva especially emphasizes that in dentistry, as in other areas of medicine, a differentiated approach to the problem is more important than ever: “A comprehensive examination will help to understand what exactly was the “trigger” - poor hygiene or pathological disruptions in the body.”
To make a correct diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment, it is necessary to carry out a whole range of diagnostic measures:
— the doctor collects anamnesis during a personal conversation with the patient regarding symptoms that bother him;
- after this, the specialist examines the oral cavity to determine the depth of the periodontal pockets and the amount of deposits accumulated in them and to understand how far the process has gone;
— computed tomography allows you to accurately assess the degree of periodontal damage, if any;
— if necessary, the patient will be asked to additionally donate blood for sugar, hormones and lack of vitamins and microelements.
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Teeth grinding
Bruxism, the scientific name for teeth grinding, has become one of the popular problems faced by people during the pandemic.
Scientists from Israel and Poland conducted a study among 1,800 people and found that during the pandemic, the number of patients with bruxism has increased. American dentists also confirmed the relationship: more and more people need special mouthguards that relieve spasms in the jaw. The main causes of the disease are stress and working from home. The first lockdown gave many reasons for concern: lifestyle changes, fear of contracting an unstudied virus and financial difficulties. Against the backdrop of these events, many began to “take out stress” on their teeth. This happens involuntarily, most often in a dream. You worry and overexert yourself, and the body tries to reduce your excitement by grinding. Additionally, working from home has forced some to spend more time on the computer. It is difficult to maintain perfect posture while sitting. Slouching affects your bite, and problems with your bite, in turn, affect muscle tension in the jaw. Incorrect position of teeth causes a person to involuntarily squeeze their jaws and “click” them. This habit has dangerous consequences: enamel defects, increased sensitivity and abrasion of teeth. It is not so easy to understand that you make noise with your jaw at night. If your family tells you that you click your teeth for several seconds at night, then it is better to listen to their concerns and consult a dentist. Symptoms may also include morning headaches, discomfort in closing teeth, pain in the neck or ears. In these cases, doctors conduct an X-ray examination and, if necessary, prescribe special mouth guards that will protect the teeth from night grinding. And those experiencing stress due to the pandemic are advised to seek psychological support.
