What should you do if you have bleeding gums?

See your dentist for a professional exam and cleaning. Ideally your teeth should be flossed and brushed three times a day. I recommend that you not tie flossing and brushing to meal times because it is too inconvenient. Floss, then brush your teeth and tongue and rinse afterward: (1) when you first wake up, (2) when you first return home from school or work (don’t come out of the bathroom until you do) and (3) before bed. The objective is to disturb the colonization of plaque bacteria and not let it sit undisturbed for too long. If you do this calculus (tartar) will never be able to attach to your teeth. I have heard many people say that they think twice a day is enough. Well, what happens if you miss one of those two times? The plaque bacteria have 24 hours to organize and grow.

Look at it this way. Let’s say you have breakfast and you eat as much as you can off of your plate. Your plate is still dirty because there are small amounts of food left behind, you know how dirty dishes look. Now, imagine that instead of washing that plate you wrap it in a moist towel and place it in an oven at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (average body temperature) and let it sit there until lunch. You unwrap that same plate and put your lunch on it then eat. When you are finished you wrap that plate in your moist towel and put it back in the oven until dinner. Out comes that great looking (and smelling) plate again. Time for dinner! After dinner you wrap your same plate again, along with small bits of breakfast, lunch, dinner and whatever snacks you ate in your warm, moist towel then put it back in the oven for the 7 – 8 hours you sleep at night. Fresh breath in the morning? I think not.

It’s not hard to imagine why your gums become infected and bleed now, is it? – especially if you do this day in and day out.

I hear your next question coming, “If I brush at night, why do I still have to brush in the morning? This is why. You are cleaning, not sterilizing your mouth. There are still living organisms in there. Your body is working while you are sleeping, digesting food, growing fingernails, etc. Metabolism happens and plaque forms.

Be the old person with all of their teeth. It will improve your quality of life.

Make an appointment today to have your gums checked. – Book Now