What Causes Bleeding Gums?

Bleeding gums are hard to miss - floss tinged with red, spit slightly crimson, scarlet toothbrush?

It may be nothing. Bu it may be serious.

Bleeding gums can mean gingivitis, the top dental problem for people over 18, or indicate serious medical conditions whose symptoms just happen to show up in the mouth. Either way you need to consult a medical professional.

Bleeding gums are usually caused by the improper teeth cleaning, and the condition is called gingivitis.

Mild cases of bleeding gums (gingivitis) are not only treatable but reversible. In this case your bleeding gums act as an early warning signal that you could be heading for serious dental health problems. Because minor instances of bleeding gums are easy to ignore people often do just that. As a result, their bleeding gums can progress silently to the more serious dental disease, periodontitis (inflammation around the tooth), without warning.

How Do You Get Bleeding Gums?

Most of the time bleeding gums are caused by poor oral hygiene. Teeth and gums need to be kept clean.

Poor Oral Hygiene Causes Bleeding Gums

While heredity and other medical factors can influence the development of bleeding gums, the major cause is poor oral hygiene. Food trapped under the gums combines with bacteria to create plaque, a “toxic stew” that irritates the gums and makes them bleed. This colorless film of sticky material containing food particles, bacteria, and saliva attaches itself to the tooth above and below the gum line encouraging bleeding gums and tooth decay.

Then plaque, the “toxic stew,” hardens into tartar (calculus) in just 24 hours. Each day this “contaminated crust” grows. That’s why you need to remove plaque every day, no matter what. Only a dental professional can remove tartar.

Other Causes of Bleeding Gums

Chronic bleeding gums can have serious underlying causes besides personal dental care. So, it‘s a good idea to get the rest of your body checked out to rule out hidden reasons for your illness. And then advise your dentist. Deficiencies in certain vitamins or weaknesses in your blood clotting (hemostasis) process can be factors.

Be sure you don’t have ill-fitting dentures or partials that might be causing your bleeding gums. Other sources of the problem can be medication like antihistamines, antidepressants, anticoagulants, and oral contraceptives. Diabetes and pregnancy can even play a role in bleeding gums.

Situational Causes of Bleeding Gums

Some causes of bleeding gums are situational. Forceful over brushing and other traumas to the gums can also set off bleeding gums as can certain hot food and chemicals. Occasionally, sharp food items such as fish bones or crispy candy can cause bleeding gums. Sometimes dramatic changes in atmospheric pressure can bring about an occurrence.

Why Should You Worry About Bleeding Gums (Gingivitis)?

If you can rule out serious medical risks in connection to your bleeding gums, you probably have Gingivitis. Untreated, bleeding gums lead to Periodontitis. Gingivitis can mean minor blood loss; Periodontitis can mean major tooth loss.

Bleeding gums could signal the ulceration and swelling of Trench Mouth or tissue destruction. Not good.

Evidence is mounting of potential links between bleeding gums and more serious health concerns. Healthy immune systems normally fight off the bacteria developing in the mouth. When this protection is compromised in any way, the added bacteria in the bloodstream appear to increase the risk of stroke or heart disease.

Remember, it’s not what Gingivitis (bleeding gums) is but what it leads to – irreversible Periodontitis and likely tooth loss.

How Do You Diagnose Your Bleeding Gums?

Visit your dentist twice a year. During the exam, your gums will be assessed for Gingivitis - bleeding, swelling, and firmness. In addition, your dental professional will check plaque and tartar build-up above and below the gum line.

What Bleeding Gums Treatments Are Available?

Bleeding gums are usually reversible with professional treatment and regular oral care at home. The dentist or hygienist will probably help reduce the current buildup of tartar by scaling the teeth. Scaling removes tartar and plaque from the surface of the infected teeth.

Reversing bleeding gums is all about daily plaque control – essentially sound oral hygiene. That means, in most cases, stopping the plaque in your mouth is really in your own hands. Brush every day. Floss every day. Period. Your dentist or oral hygienist may recommend fluoride toothpaste or tartar reduction rinses. Colgate Total is approved by the FDA for helping to prevent gingivitis by reducing the plaque and tartar that contribute to bleeding gums.

Dental professionals recommend oral irrigation as a great way to really clean teeth and gums. Oral irrigators get what tooth brushes and floss don’t, so plaque and tartar and the resulting bleeding gums never come back.

Oral irrigators flood the mouth with a jet of water under pressure to flush offending food particles and bacteria from the mouth. And now there’s fresh evidence that bleeding gums respond well to oral irrigators.

How Do Oral Breeze Products Reverse Bleeding Gums?

Flossing could work. But, most people just don’t floss enough. Only 35% floss and only 2-15% floss every day. Flossing is too much trouble, too unpleasant.

1000’s of Oral Breeze customers love their Oral Breeze. They brush away food and then breeze away plaque. It feels so good to breeze.

Bleeding gums (Gingivitis) are usually preventable and they are reversible.

Every day, brush after meals and breeze before bed.

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More Oral Health Information:

What is Periodontitis (Gum Disease)?
Natural Remedies for Gum Disease
How to Cure Gum Disease
How to Cure Periodontitis
What is Gingivitis?
Gingivitis: Causes and Remedy
How Serious is Gingivitis?
Treatment for Bleeding & Receding Gums