What Causes Bleeding Gums?

From either bushing too hard, to wearing any oral dentures incorrectly, blood from the gums would be common. However, bleeding gums are also symptoms of illnesses or issues that require more immediate attention from doctors. Here are a few things one should consider if their bleeding gums continue to persist.

Dental Conditions that may cause bleeding gums:

  1. Gingivitis: A mild and common form of gum disease that causes your gums to swell due to the buildup of plaque in your gum lining. If not treated correctly, it can progress into periodontist, which is more long term and can damage the roots of your teeth into more permeant damage.
  2. There is also pregnancy gingivitis, which occurs in women when their hormones are off balance due to their pregnancy.
  3. Scurvy: While mostly known to turn up in pirates, scurvy is a disease that can be linked to poor nutrition that causes weakness and anemia. It is a typical sign and can easily be avoided with the proper diet.

Other Possible Causes:

  1. Flossing: While necessary to your daily cleaning routine, some others may not yet be fully used to flossing correctly.
  2. Medications: Blood-thinning medications can cause constant bleeding to open wounds. Medications like aspirin, heparin, and warfarin are all blood thinners.
  3. Dental work: If you have any dentures or oral implants that are not fitted to your mouth, they can cause irritation and bleeding.
  4. Vitamin deficiencies: Without Vitamins C and K, your gums are more prone to bleeding. It’s best to make sure you consume foods that are rich in both or take once-a-day vitamins to help boost your system.
  5. Special Disorders
  6. Thrombocytopenia – Your body isn’t producing enough platelets, which help form blood clots and can lead to constant bleeding.
  7. Hemophilia – also known as Willebrand Disease – is the body’s inability to clot its blood properly.
  8. Leukemia – This condition causes your body to produce low levels of blood platelets, resulting in issues of constant bleeding from any cuts or open wounds.
  9. Diabetes – Swelling of the gums can hint at cases of possibly type 1 or type 2 diabetes because the body is having issues with blood sugar levels.

Treatments for Bleeding Gums:

  1. Good dental hygiene, like brushing your teeth twice a day or after meals, along with flossing correctly.
  2. Proper toothbrushes, like soft-bristle and electric toothbrushes, are ideal for daily use and easier on the gums.
  3. A prescribed mouth rinse is given to you after a trip to the dentist to help clear your gums of any bacteria that you can’t reach with flossing or brushing.

If you or someone you know has these issues and they continue to get worse, it would be best to research and reach out to a doctor or specialist before it’s too late. The sooner it comes to professional attention, the easier it is to help you or the ones you care about get the help they need, and reduce the chances of the gums getting into critical need of medical intervention.

Related Article: How to Get My Gums to Stop Bleeding