Why do my gums bleed when I brush my teeth?

The reason that gums bleed during brushing usually is due to marginal gingival inflammation. The gingiva near the teeth is inflamed and when the tooth brush contacts it there is some bleeding. This can happen for a number of reasons.The most common is due to a generally poor brushing technique.

When a person doesn't habitually use a tooth brush to clean the area of some teeth immediately adjacent to the gums plaque and even tarter can accumulate. These accumulations lead to puffy and inflamed gingiva that bleeds when the toothbrush contacts it. Lack of proper flossing can also be part of the problem as well since this can lead to an overgrowth of bacteria on the proximal line angles of teeth. Those patients with chronic periodontitis usually don't have bleeding when brushing since t tooth brushing usually does not cause deeper periodontal pockets to bleed unless there is a periodontal abscess present.

What are some other, much less likely reasons? A condition causing swollen inflamed gums may also be caused by  a blood disgrace (leukemia), pregnancy tumor (giant cell granuloma) a malignancy, gingival herpes, or another virus that effects the gingiva.  These possibilities are rarely observed and the bulk of the patients complaining about bleeding gums have a run of the mill gingivitis.

If your gums are bleeding when you brush  is time to visit your dentist in order to have your mouth professionally examined and  your teeth cleaned.  While there, ask for help with improving your brushing technique. Usually I recommend my patients using a good electric tooth brush, since this can be easier and certainly more efficient than using an old fashioned manual tooth brush.







from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2018/09/why-do-my-gums-bleed-when-i-brush-my.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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