Dear Patients,
Today I would like to answer a question that you very often ask:
What shall I do if my tooth gets sensitive, inflamed and starts bleeding when I am brushing it?
Ideally the gum is calm and pale pink. When inflamed it turns red and swollen, and it can bleed easily, especially when you are brushing your teeth.
Several factors play a role in the development of gingivitis, even asymptomatic sometimes. It may appear at one point or it may affect the whole gum.
Over time this can become a more serious disease such as gum atrophy, or periodontitis unless well looked after and treated professionally. The importance of the instant professional treatment is essential otherwise the infection not only affects the gum but may also penetrate the bone and tissues surrounding the teeth.
However, given the current situation, I recommend you typical home practices that are not supposed to replace professional therapy but can still offer you some help in the trouble.
So let’s look at the most common problems:
If the gum is sensitive at one point next to or between the teeth, it is probably due to a bad filling, caries, tartar or even just a leftover from the last meal that got stuck. First thing to do is to clean our teeth thoroughly, floss them every day, use rinsing solutions containing chlorhexidine, and Parodontax toothpaste until you can show it to your dentist in person.
If a sensitive point appears on the mucous membrane that is probably caused by an aphtha or herpes. Both can be painful but the regular application of vitamins C and D as well as the use of gyngisol can be recommended both for cure and for prevention. Various home practices like tea tree oil, herbal rinses, or even baking soda can be effective on inflamed areas. There is a lot of information on the Internet about this, but we are also here to help with even more specific advice and personalized suggestions if you are interested.
Poorly fitted dentures or poor brushing technique (brushing with too much pressure), or the use of a hard toothbrush can easily cause gingivitis, and gingival atrophy of a larger area.
In such case, the gum may recede and as a consequence it become sensitive, and inflamed over time. Often it is worth reviewing our own brushing practices and change them if necessary. We will help you with this soon 🙂
Until then, what matters the most is the regular and thorough brushing and flossing, as well as the use of chlorhexidine-containing rinses. Feel free to ask until we finally meet up; we remain at your service!