Had my Damons for about 5 months now..Gums have been bleeding lately

[dieselboi2]

Just wanted to find out if this was normal for people. It has been happening alot more lately where my gums especially by three different spots begin to bleed..is there anything i could do to prevent it? I am on my second wire and this has not been the best time..I have seen some good improvement so far so I am excited about that...Just the pain and the bleeding is a bit obnoxious. I have an appointment in 2 weeks so I will defitnely ask questions then.

[Sunny]

Dieselboi2 bleeding gums is rarely to do with having braces but usually to do with oral hygiene. Have the products you use to brush and rinse with been changed, or have you changed your flossing routine lately?

It's important to keep your gums healthy and healthy gums don't bleed. Make sure when you brush, that you only brush your gums very gently. Flossing correctly once a day is probably the most important thing you can do for your gums. If you've not been flossing regularly, sometimes they'll bleed and even hurt when you first do this, but this is why it's so important ... and this will go away with regular flossing.

Rinsing with a quality mouthwash is also important.

Talk to your ortho about this happening and hopefully it'll be easy to fix!

[SoCal]

I have had my Damons for about 3 months. I don't have regular bleeding, but my gums have bled in a few places once while flossing (at different times). Then I brush and it hasn't bled in the same spot since. It doesn't happen very often, but I was thinking maybe it had something to do with your teeth moving? I am not sure. I haven't been too worried about it, mainly because it has only happened twice and not reoccurred in the same spot. Has anything like this happened to anyone else?

I floss daily and brush twice daily. I also use different floss from day to day (I stocked up on a variety to see which one worked best with the braces). It seems like the Oral B Superfloss is a lot harsher on my gums that the Oral B Satin floss. Maybe the floss is the culprit?

[Sunny]

Moving teeth should not cause your gums to bleed, although I'm sure for a few people this may happen. Bleeding from the gums is usually an oral hygiene issue and not flossing properly can cause the bleeding. Be gently when working with your gums and make sure the floss slips just below the gum and back out gently.

My gums bleed for a few weeks when I first started flossing. This was following a mild case of gum disease and loads of painful and expensive 'scraping' work being done just below the gum area due to the disease. Once my gums recovered, they've never bleed since when I've been flossing or brushing, unless I've hurt them.

I use oral b superfloss every night and brush twice a day most days ... sometimes three times.

Good luck!

[SoCal]

Maybe I am hurting my gums. I just got new wires and some of my teeth are harder to get in between now, so I have to use more pressure to get to the gumline.

[josie]

SoCal, if your teeth are quite close together, and you use floss which is thick, then you will end up putting more pressure on to get it through.

I have teeth like this, and I don't use the Oral B superfloss for this reason - it is one of the coarsest flosses I've tried so far and it really does hurt my gums when it snaps through. Wax coated floss also tends to be 'harder' and to more easily hurt the gums. The Oral B satin floss is great for people with close teeth or sensitive gums, although it does sometimes split into 2 halves - which is a pain - but for comfort it is great. Like Sunny says, bleeding gums are a classic sign they are inflamed due to plaque - but if you're sure this isn't the case and you're not getting plaque on the floss and can't notice any on your teeth and are flossing and brushing regularly, then it could be the floss.

[Sunny]

Josie with oral b superfloss, one of the techniques is to thread the stiffened end through at the gums ... that's why it designed the way it is! The fluffy bit is thin and slides between even very tight teeth. The harder part is for doing a great job below your gums!

[josie]

I tried that Sunny, and it worked great on the teeth where I could thread it through - but this wasn't possible on several teeth up against each other - maybe that will change as they move, so I will keep giving it a try from time to time!