Gingivitis - so many of us have it, and so few of us know what it is….so in true Homegirl Hygienist fashion I thought I would blog about it! Yay!

I recently made a video about Gingivitis for my IGTV and YouTube channel which I will link somewhere in this blog, but if you would rather read then listen, then this ones for you.

When you have Gingivitis your gums will look:

red or darker in colour to other areas of your mouth
puffy
sometimes shiny

Your gums will also bleed really easily, could be spontaneously, when eating, when your brushing, when you’re cleaning in between your teeth or a combo of all of these.

Gingivitis basically just means bleeding at the gum line, the pink bit where your gum meets your tooth and, like so many other dental problems starts off the plaque. In case you’re new here, plaque is that sticky yellow nasty stuff that usually hangs out, you guessed it, at the gum line too.

When you body identifies that the plaque at your gum line has outstayed its welcome, your body sends up the red alert and sends in white blood cells to deal with the issue. They travel to the area in the blood so blood in the area increases and this is why your gums bleed.

The great news about Gingivitis is that it is completely reversible if you:

Use something like interdental brushes to clean in between your teeth daily - you can find out more about this here.
Brushing your teeth twice a day with either and electric or a manual toothbrush for 2 minutes, gently angling the brush 45 degrees down or up towards the gum line - you can read more about this here.
With a fluoride toothpaste that meets your dental needs - you can find out more about some of my favourite toothpastes here.

There are also great little single tufted brushes you can try if you suffer from Gingivitis around a particular tooth or a couple of teeth, i’ll leave a link to these here.

Sometimes if you’ve just introduced one of these cleaning methods, like cleaning in between your teeth, into your routine, or you haven’t done it for a while, your gums might bleed for a while even after the plaque is gone. This is totally normal and fine, and the bleeding should stop after about a week of starting your new routine, if you’re doing it every day that is….if you’re dipping in and out of cleaning in between your teeth, the chances are that you’ll get bleeding most times you do it.

The bad news with Gingivitis is if we don’t treat it and nip it in the bud, it can turn into Gum Disease which is NOT REVERSIBLE and can lead to tooth loss. You can only stabilise Gum Disease you will never make it 100% better, so treating Gingivitis as soon as it occurs is the best option.

At your dental appointment you should be checked for signs of Gingivitis and Gum Disease at each visit. BLEEDING GUMS ARE NOT NORMAL! I always take bleeding scores for my patients at their appointments to monitor how healthy your gums are, in an ideal world we are looking for 10% bleeding or less, this is a pretty low score but it is completely achievable. If you’re wondering how you gums measure up you should book an appointment with me or your own Dental Hygienist to catch any signs of Gingivitis early. Gingivitis can also be influenced by other factors like your diet etc so you will be able to get some more info about this too if you need to. I recommend seeing a Dental Hygienist at least 6 monthly to help give you the knowledge and the tips you need to keep those gums pink and healthy.

Thankyou so much for reading!! If you have any questions please comment below or send me a DM to my Instagram account and if you would like to book an appointment with me you can find details of my clinics in the Contact Us section <3.