Gingivitis?!
Question: Hello All, I am a 21 year old male who has Gingivitis in my gums, they are a red puffy pinish red. They bleed always.
I was not taking care of my teeth, I was never brushing them and sure enough the punishment came.
In the past 2 weeks, I realized that I am getting sick from it and decided for myself and personal hygiene, I am chaging my ways, I am going to start brushing at least once a day and using listerine daily.
My question is, Can I heal my gums after all the damage that was done to them?
I regularly go to a dentist every 6 months in case your wondering.
and no judgement please, at least i am trying to better myself.
Answers: Hello All, I am a 21 year old male who has Gingivitis in my gums, they are a red puffy pinish red. They bleed always.
I was not taking care of my teeth, I was never brushing them and sure enough the punishment came.
In the past 2 weeks, I realized that I am getting sick from it and decided for myself and personal hygiene, I am chaging my ways, I am going to start brushing at least once a day and using listerine daily.
My question is, Can I heal my gums after all the damage that was done to them?
I regularly go to a dentist every 6 months in case your wondering.
and no judgement please, at least i am trying to better myself.
If you have your teeth cleaned every six months you should be fine! Just be sure to brush 2 times a day and floss everyday!
If you didn't have your teeth cleaned every six months, it would be a different story, b/c the hard deposits on your teeth (a.k.a. tarter) would have to be removed before you can do an excellent job cleaning your teeth.
Anyway, your gum tissue should go back to "normal" in 2-3 weeks with excellent hygiene. Also, you should let your dentist or hygienist know about this at your next appointment. It takes about 21 days to pick up a habit, so keep your self motivated and floss, floss, floss!!
mgold I recommend that you read periodontology journals. You can get the info you need in the abstracts. Often there are procedures that you can follow for a few weeks.
For example subgingival irrigation using a waterpik, on low pressure. Iodine has been proven effective at killing the bacteria in the gums, but plain water is effective too. Don't use iodine too often because you absorb it. it's a good microbial though.
I know can seem like they will never heal, but if you brush your gums really well everyday and floss them. The amount of blood will start to decrease, and the puffiness will go down. There have been sometimes when the blood got so bad I had to not brush my teeth for a day to give the gums time to heal. It takes a little while but soon your gums will toughen up. The only thing is you have to keep it up, because it's easier and faster for Gingivitis to return than it is to heal from it. I would also use some mouth wash after flossing like Crest, that helps prevent gingivitis. I hope that helps.