[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/brushing-flossing\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/brushing-flossing\/","headline":"Brushing or Flossing and Bleeding Gums","name":"Brushing or Flossing and Bleeding Gums","description":"[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”HeaderSection” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|0|0px|0||” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_css_main_element=”z-index: 0;” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” content_max_width=”none” module_id=”top-header” _builder_version=”3.22.6″ title_font_size=”25px” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Is-it-normal-for-my-gums-to-bleed-when-I-brush-or-floss.jpg” hover_enabled=”0″ 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gums normal?” content_max_width=”none” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_color=”#0aaaaf” hover_enabled=”0″ custom_css_main_element=”height: 80px; padding: […]","datePublished":"2016-06-18","dateModified":"2021-04-19","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/author\/admin\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e8332d597554647ad1a751e441d0749?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e8332d597554647ad1a751e441d0749?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Dr Colin Priestland","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/index.png","url":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/index.png","width":577,"height":143}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Is-it-normal-for-my-gums-to-bleed-when-I-brush-or-floss.jpg","url":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Is-it-normal-for-my-gums-to-bleed-when-I-brush-or-floss.jpg","height":300,"width":640},"url":"https:\/\/nqsurgicaldentistry.com.au\/brushing-flossing\/","about":["Gum Disease"],"wordCount":2465,"keywords":["bleeding gums","brushing","dental hygiene","dentistry","flossing","gum disease","oral hygiene","tooth loss"],"articleBody":"\t\t\t\t\t[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”HeaderSection” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ background_color=”#ffffff” 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custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″]Is it normal for my Gums to bleed when brushing or flossing?Answer.\u00a0 \u201cThis question always triggers alarm bells for me because it is clear that the message has still not got through that bleeding from gums at any time is a sign of gum disease.\u00a0 There should not be blood on your toothbrush during or after brushing or flossing your teeth, on your floss or in the toothpaste you spit in the basin.\u00a0 If there is, you have inflammation in your gums and it needs to be assessed and probably treated.\u201dGum Disease\u2026\u2026Who’s Responsible?Gum disease is an entirely preventable disease.\u00a0 It does, however, demand that everyone must take responsibility for their own oral health by maintaining a good standard of cleaning.It is your own home care that matters most.\u00a0 Whether you use a brush, floss, use interdental\u00a0brushes, end tufted brushes, Picksters, an electric brush, mouthwashes or toothpaste, no matter what you use, it is how you use it that matters.\u00a0 Tooth brushing 4 times a day badly\u00a0is not going to be as good as brushing with an excellent technique once or twice a day.\u00a0 So technique matters!\u00a0 Everyone needs to be taught the best way to clean depending on the level of their susceptibility to either gum disease or dental decay.Smoking is a Serious FactorSmokers must be fed up of hearing the same old health messages and must all know by now that smoking is seriously bad for you.\u00a0 If they smoke despite the knowledge that it can kill through coronary disease, lung cancer, lip and oral cancer and lung diseases, it seems unlikely that smokers will be influenced by the fact that smoking is going to put them at risk of severe gum disease resulting in premature tooth loss.\u00a0 But smoking is the number one risk factor in gum disease and greatly contributes to loss of teeth.A Family History of Gum Disease is CommonA family history of parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents who suffered from early tooth loss may indicate that your family has a genetic predisposition to gum disease.\u00a0 Genetics play a major role in so many medical conditions and gum disease is no different.\u00a0 However, even if your parents have kindly donated the genes that make you more susceptible to gum disease, if you do all the right things at home in terms of cleaning, you can prevent bone loss and keep the disease at bay.Gum Disease can Influence General HealthThere has been a great deal of information that has been made available in magazines, news and advertising, medical journals and through healthcare providers to maker it clear that gum disease is closely linked with several medical conditions.Gum disease is clearly a marker for coronary artery disease, stroke and diabetes.\u00a0 Patients who have received joint replacements and prosthetic heart valves or have heart murmurs are all at far greater risk of suffering severe complications if they have bacteria floating around in their blood.\u00a0 We call this a \u201cbacteraemia\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Patients who have gum disease will suffer bacteraemia far more frequently and have more bacteria in their blood than people with no gum disease.\u00a0 Such bacteraemia can lead to bacterial endocarditis, a severe infection of the heart\u2019s lining with the risk of irrevocable heart damage that may be life-threatening.\u00a0 So it seems reasonable that if you want to live a long and healthy life you should make sure you don\u2019t allow yourself to become a gum disease sufferer.For expectant Mums, healthy gums and preventing the development of gum inflammation is important.\u00a0 The existence of focal infections or local inflammatory conditions will release various inflammatory markers into the system including Prostaglandins and Interleukins that are involved in the initiation of contractions leading to the birth of the baby.\u00a0 It has been shown that in ladies who have gum disease there is a higher incidence of premature birth and low birth weight babies than women without gum disease. \u00a0\u00a0So, Mums-to-be, get your gum health checked.How Widespread is Gum Disease?Somewhere between 13% and 20% of Australians suffer from that form of gum disease that causes bone to be lost around their teeth (called Chronic Periodontitis).\u00a0 Assuming 15% is the true proportion, that\u2019s 3, 450,000 people in Australia who need to receive gum disease treatment.\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot of patients and from the throughput of patients I see, I can tell you that there is a huge under-diagnosis here in Australia and indeed throughout the world.If you want to know if you have gum disease first clean thoroughly with a toothbrush and then floss and if there is any blood seen at any time on the brush, on the floss or in the toothpaste that you spit out, you need to take action now.What Does Gum Disease Treatment InvolveFor the vast majority of patients\u00a0treated will only involve the introduction of a detailed home cleaning regime and non-surgical careful cleaning of the root surfaces followed by review and monitoring with periodic cleaning by the dental hygienist.The treatment, therefore, relies on the co-operation of the patient for success.\u00a0 To achieve this we have to give the patient the information needed to understand the disease process, the aims of their home care regime and the reasons the treatment works.Once they have all the facts they can make their own mind up to commit to the treatment and put in the necessary time on their own at home performing the cleaning in the way they have been shown and taught.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t understand the disease and they don\u2019t understand exactly what they have to achieve then it is never going to be possible to achieve success.So often dentists speaking about a patient\u2019s plaque control tell the patient they need to try harder!\u00a0 To the patient try harder literally means clean harder!\u00a0 This demonstrates clearly that it is the lack of clear communication that leaves patients unclear of what exactly they have to do to achieve the standard of cleaning that will ensure they enjoy good oral health.\u00a0 Brushing \u201charder\u201d is going to achieve nothing more than create further problems including tooth wear (also known as tooth abrasion), or tooth sensitivity, particularly with cold drinks.\u00a0 The message should have been clean \u201cwiser\u2019!\u00a0 Use the right technique for the right time\u00a0using the right tools.Yes, that\u2019s the 3 T\u2019s of Tooth Brushing!It is a team effort.\u00a0 Like any team game, success is only achieved when all the team members manage to work together.\u00a0 This is true of your gum disease treatment too.\u00a0 The team consists of the dentist, dental hygienist and most importantly the patient themselves.\u00a0 As long as there are no weak links, the disease will be contained, and the bone loss will cease.We will make the commitment to you to give you all the help you need and we need you to commit to doing everything that is asked of you at home in your own time if, together, we are going to beat your gum disease.In our Blog sections, there are numerous short articles on a wide range of subjects including gum disease.\u00a0 You can read through the gum disease articles in order and they should provide you with a clear understanding of the disease and treatment is far\u00a0more detailcontact the friendly team at NQ Surgical Dentistry today on\u00a0(07) 4725 1656 or call in to see us at\u00a0183 Kings Rd, Pimlico QLD 4812[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Services” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”0|0px|0|220px|false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”|0%|40px|0%|false|true” custom_padding_phone=”” border_radii=”||||20vw” 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