Bleeding Gums? It’s Time To See Your Local Wickford Dentist

If your gums are bleeding, inflamed, or sore, don’t ignore the symptoms!

If you have noticed blood in your saliva when you spit after brushing your teeth, it is possible that you have the beginnings of gum disease.

Although it may not be causing you any discomfort and you may be tempted to ignore it, this is a bad idea and a professional dental examination is needed. If the bleeding only happens once, it is possible that you may have scratched your gums with your toothbrush or similar, but any more than this, and gum disease is a more likely cause.

How will I know if I have gum disease?

Rather than try to self diagnose your symptoms, we advise you to make an appointment with the  hygienist at Cygnet Dental Practice as soon as you can. Although gum disease can be reversed in the early stages; if the gums are not cleaned properly, it is more likely that it will advance to a point where it starts to also affect the jawbone. As it starts to thin the bone in that area, the teeth become less stable and may even eventually become loose or fall out.

The key with gum disease, as with any oral health issue, is to treat it early. This also means that the necessary treatment will be less invasive. Please take a look below at the treatment involved in early stage gum disease (gingivitis) and latter stage gum disease (periodontitis).

Treating gingivitis

Depending on the extent of the gum infection, it is sometimes possible to reverse early stage gum disease through improving your home cleaning regimen alone. We would still recommend that you have your teeth cleaned by our hygienist (also known as a scale and polish) though, to make sure that they are as clean as possible.

Once clean, we recommend ongoing cleaning, usually on a six monthly basis.

Treating periodontitis

If the disease has become advanced and has spread to the roots of the tooth, or even the bone, a straightforward scale and polish will not be enough. For this to be treated, a root planing treatment may be needed. Unfortunately this is more invasive and involves the cleaning of not only the teeth above the gum line and the gum pockets, but also the roots of the teeth. This procedure is always done using a local anaesthetic as it would be painful otherwise.

Whilst this treatment can be successful, it is not always so, and preventing it from reaching this stage is by far the best approach.

If you notice that your gums bleed, are sore or inflamed, or anything that appears unusual, please don’t ignore it and arrange to be seen by one of the dentists at the Cygnet Dental Practice in Wickford by calling us as soon as possible on 01268 733078.