Why Do Gums Pain
How to Treat Gum Pain Medically Reviewed by on February 09, 2023 Many things can cause your gums to hurt, but not all of them require a trip to the dentist. Sore gums can be a sign that you brush your teeth too hard. Other times, braces or dentures can irritate your gums.
Hormone changes related to your period, pregnancy, or menopause can also led to swollen,painful gums. Gum pain can be a sign of a more serious problem like gum disease. Sometimes, things you can do at home can give you relief from sore gums. It can also help you know whether you need help from your dentist or other health care professional.
Try these simple home remedies for achy gums:
Rinse your mouth with warm salt water. Use only with soft or extra-soft bristles. Use over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers, such as acetaminophen as the label directs.
Other OTC products to treat sore gums include:
Mouthwashes containing hydrogen peroxide Gels that you apply directly to the sore gums
If your gums hurt and you have a white coating on your tongue or cheeks, you could have an infection called thrush. It’s a type of yeast infection. Eating yogurt with live cultures can help. But see a doctor or dentist if it doesn’t clear up. There are many reasons why your gum or gums might hurt.
But sometimes, gum problems don’t cause pain right away. The possible reasons range from very minor to very serious. They include: Gum disease. The first signs of gum disease (also called periodontitis) are bleeding, swelling, and redness. They usually happen when you don’t brush or floss your well or often enough.
You might not feel pain during the early stage, called gingivitis. If you don’t do a better job brushing and flossing, your gum disease could get worse. Over time, your gums might start to pull away from your teeth, creating little pockets. Tiny pieces of food can get stuck in them, causing infection.
- This can cause the teeth to loosen or the bone holding them in place to break down, which leads to tooth loss.
- You may or may not feel any pain at this point.
- Canker sores.
- These can appear anywhere in your mouth, including your gums.
- They’re not contagious.
- They usually show up as red splotches in your mouth, but they can have a white coating, too.
Canker sores tend to go away on their own within a week or two. To ease pain in the meantime, avoid spicy, salty, and acidic foods. You can also use the home remedies above or try an over-the-counter treatment like a numbing gel or coating agent. If your canker sore is larger than a half-inch, doesn’t heal after a couple of weeks, or interferes with eating and drinking, see your doctor or dentist.
- Tobacco, If you smoke or use “smokeless” products like chewing tobacco, dip, or snuff, you’re more likely to have gum disease.
- Because smokeless tobacco is placed between the cheek and gum, it can cause more harm to your mouth than cigarettes.
- Your gums can pull away from your teeth, and sores could form inside your mouth and on your gums.
It could also lead to, Hormonal changes. Hormones can affect your gums at different times in your life. During puberty, more blood flows to your gums, and they may feel swollen, tender, or painful. You may notice pain during your menstrual periods. When you’re pregnant, your hormone levels surge and can affect your gums.
Talk to your doctor if you notice that your gums bleed or hurt. Once you hit menopause, your hormone levels shift again. Your gums could bleed, change colors, burn, or hurt. Abscessed tooth, When you have an infection by the root of your tooth, it forms a pus pocket, or abscess. These don’t always hurt, but many do.
Some abscessed teeth also cause the gums to swell. If your gums hurt or are swollen, see your dentist. You may need a root canal to treat an abscessed tooth. Oral cancer, This can start on your tongue, inner cheek, tonsils, or gums. You or your dentist may see the cancer, because it looks like a sore in your mouth that just won’t heal.
- It might not be painful at first.
- But keep an eye on it – and any sores in your mouth or on your gums.
- Head to the dentist if they don’t heal in a couple of weeks.
- If your gums hurt or bleed for more than a week, see your dentist so they can check you for signs of gum disease.
- If not treated, periodontitis can cause painful abscesses and lead to tooth loss.
Gum disease has also been linked to, so it’s very important to take care of your mouth. See your dentist if you have ongoing gum pain or any of these symptoms:
Bleeding gums Red, swollen gums Gums that pull back from your teeth Dentures that don’t fit right anymore Pain when you chew Loose teeth Sensitivity to hot or cold
To, brush, floss, and get your teeth cleaned regularly. The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing once a day. © 2023 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved. : How to Treat Gum Pain
Contents
Why does my bottom gum hurt?
When you have a toothache, you go to the dentist. What do you do when you have gum problems? At Orthodontic Experts, one of the most frequently asked questions that patients ask our doctors is how come my gums hurt? There are many reasons behind this and how to prevent this with maintaining good oral hygiene.
Gum Pain, bleeding, or swelling might be caused due to several reasons if you don’t have good oral hygiene. For a healthy smile, you must practice good oral hygiene every day. Brushing after each meal, using antimicrobial mouthwash and flossing at least once per day helps to keep these diseases from reproducing in your mouth, which causes gum pain and tooth decay.
For instance, there are many ways to keep your teeth and oral hygiene in a good state to avoid gum pain and bacteria out. Gently brush your teeth on all sides with a soft- bristle brush and fluoride toothpaste. Also, use a small circular motion and short back-and-forth strokes, but brushing carefully and gently along your gum line. Gum pain is caused by many different ways that go wrong to maintain good oral hygiene. Brushing too hard, improper flossing techniques, infection, or gum disease can cause sore and sensitive gums that many of us do not like. Other causes that are unrelated to oral hygiene might be a Vitamin K deficiency, hormonal changes during pregnancy, leukemia, or blood disorders.
- To prevent gum pain and to maintain good oral hygiene there are many different ways that work for everyone.
- First, use a saltwater rinse by warming up one cup of water on the stove (not boiling, but just mild warm) and pour into a cool glass and gurgle the water.
- Next, try compressing either a hot or cold compressor to help reduce the pain.
Another way to prevent and stop the gum pain would be using oral anesthetic gels or just over the counter pain pills. If you don’t continue to maintain the pain and try to prevent it, the gum tissue will then take about ten days to two weeks to heal. It is very important to maintain good oral hygiene to avoid this issue.
Sore gums are indicators that the gums are suffering with an infection or more. The characteristics can rule out the exact cause but it could be one of the following possibilities; improper brushing or flossing, deficiencies, hormonal changes or gum diseases. Sore gums can be caused due to many reasons such as brushing too harshly or flossing too rashly, deficiency of Vitamin K, changes in hormone due to pregnancy or puberty, and gum diseases like gingivitis.
When you have an infection at the root of your tooth, it may form a pocket, or abscess. This normally doesn’t always hurt, but many do. Some abscessed teeth can cause swelling gums. If your gums are in pain or are swollen, it’s better to visit your dentist because you may need a root canal to treat it.
- To prevent abscess to maintain good oral hygiene you must use floss or an interdental brush at least once a day to clean between your teeth and under the gum, so you won’t experience the gum pain.
- Also, another way to prevent this issue would be to brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day spending two minutes each time on the top and bottom of your mouth.
The first signs of gum are redness, bleeding, and swelling of the gums. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, there is a chance that you have gum disease. Usually, when you realize that you have gum disease it’s caused due to not flossing and brushing your teeth well or often enough.
- This is why it is important to maintain good oral hygiene to prevent this from happening.
- The most common type of gum disease is gingivitis and less common, but a more severe type is periodontics.
- There are many ways to prevent gum disease.
- First you want to brush your teeth for two to three minutes at least twice a day, with fluoride toothpaste.
Another way to prevent this from happening is to floss daily to remove the plaque from places where your toothbrush couldn’t reach. Although this is not a substitute for brushing or flossing your teeth, using mouth wash can reduce plaque buildup up to twenty percent. Canker sores are also known as mouth ulcers. These are painful, but non-contagious sores that can appear anywhere in the mouth. When spotting canker sores they usually appear as red splotches in the mouth, but with a noticeable white coating. However there is no special medical recommendation for treating canker sores, but they tend to go away on their own within a week or two.
If they don’t go away and are irritating your gums, please consult with your dentist. In the meantime, to prevent having canker sores, you need to maintain of course good oral hygiene by brushing your teeth with a soft- bristled toothbrush after meals and flossing regularly. This will keep your mouth free of foods that might trigger a sore.
Another way to avoid this is to not consume foods that irritate your mouth, including acidic, hot or spicy foods. This might be a hard one because everyone loves to chew gum, but it is recommended to avoid this to stop the irritation and so it won’t spread to the gums.
Whether you smoke or use smokeless products like chewing tobacco, dip, or snuff you’re at the highest risk of getting gum disease. Cigarettes and cigars can damage your gums, but smokeless tobacco is more dangerous because it is placed between your cheek and gum. This can cause more harm to your mouth than cigarettes can.
The extensive use of using tobacco will cause gum pain and can pull away from your teeth. then, sores will form inside your mouth and on your gums. All of these issues from tobacco can lead you to mouth cancer if your oral hygiene is not taken care of.
Changes in your hormones can affect the gums of many women. If you’re a woman you will feel these changes at different times of your life. During puberty, there might be more blood flow to your gums and they could feel swollen, tender, or even painful. The gums even might feel like they’re a little sore during your period.
Pregnancy has a big toll on gum pain because that is when your hormone levels are at their highest and can affect your gums, which is when you need to talk to your doctor if you notice gum pain. Sometimes you eat hot food or drink hot beverages like pizza and coffee that might burn your gums.
You forget about the incident, but then later the burned area feels painful and your gums hurt. Typically the gum tissue will heal in ten days or to two weeks if you don’t continue to irritate the burn with hot foods or aggressive brushing. Oral cancer can appear on your tongue, gums, and your inner cheeks or tonsils.
Initially, it might show up as a sore that is not healing. If you have any sores in your mouth from not properly keeping up with your oral hygiene that takes more than two weeks to heal, please visit your dentist for a diagnosis.
Why won’t my gums stop hurting?
Gingivitis is the most common cause of swollen gums. If plaque builds up on your gum line and teeth, over time it can become tartar (hardened plaque), which may lead to gingivitis. If left untreated, gingivitis can turn into a more serious infection called periodontal diseases (gum disease).
What does painful gums feel like?
Dental appliances – Dental appliances, such as braces, dentures, retainers, and mouthguards, can all cause gum irritation. When these devices break or don’t fit correctly, they can cause friction that damages delicate gum tissue. In addition to sore gums, you might also notice marks or imprints on your gums left by the device.
Gum irritation can also be caused by chemicals in the products you use to clean or apply your dental appliance. Try switching to a different cleaning solution or adhesive to see if your symptoms improve. If they don’t, work with your dentist to either improve the fit of your appliance or find a product, such as dental wax, to prevent friction and irritation.
Sore gums are not something you want to ignore. Gingivitis and periodontitis are treatable when caught early. The longer these conditions go untreated, the more you risk permanent damage. Make an appointment with your dentist if your symptoms don’t improve or get worse.
What is the early stage of gum disease?
What is periodontal disease? – Periodontal diseases are mainly the result of infections and inflammation of the gums and bone that surround and support the teeth. In its early stage, called gingivitis, the gums can become swollen and red, and they may bleed.
- 47.2% of adults aged 30 years and older have some form of periodontal disease.
- Periodontal disease increases with age, 70.1% of adults 65 years and older have periodontal disease.
This condition is more common in men than women (56.4% vs 38.4%), those living below the federal poverty level (65.4%), those with less than a high school education (66.9%), and current smokers (64.2%)
Why does my gum around one tooth hurt?
Why is my gum swollen around one tooth? – If you only notice swelling around one tooth, it could be something as simple as food stuck in your gums. Generally, this type of inflammation goes away once you brush and floss to remove the object. But in some cases, swelling around one tooth could mean you have a dental abscess. There are two types of dental abscesses:
Periapical abscess, This happens when infection reaches your tooth pulp, The infection can spread down to your tooth roots and surrounding bone, resulting in swollen gums. Some people develop severe jaw swelling as well. Periodontal abscess, This type of abscess is a pocket of pus (infection) around your tooth. It looks like a red ball pushing through your gums. It happens when gum disease erodes the tissues and bone that support your teeth.
Both types of abscesses can occur around one tooth. But left untreated, they can spread to other teeth and even other areas of your body, including your bloodstream. If the infection reaches your bloodstream, it can be life-threatening.