Have you ever brushed your teeth and noticed some blood on your toothbrush or when you spit? This should be a reason to be concerned, and unfortunately, many people think that bleeding when brushing or flossing is normal. There should never be blood when taking care of your oral health since it is the first stage of gum disease that you are likely experiencing. Here is what you need to know about it.
Why Should You Care About A Small Amount Of Blood?
If you are only noticing a small amount of blood, you may be wondering why this is even a big deal that you should be concerned about. While bleeding is the first stage of gum disease, the consequences if gum disease sets in can be quite startling. You can lose part of the structure of your teeth, have receding gums, and end up paying a lot of money for a dentist to fix these issues. In extreme situations, the shape of your face can even change as you start losing that facial structure from tooth loss. Gum disease can also result in systemic health risks, such as strokes, diabetes, and heart disease. If you are pregnant, it can be a direct factor that causes low birth weight. That's why it's so important to address blood when brushing as early as possible.
What Should You Do If You Notice Blood?
You should visit your dentist if you notice that you have blood when brushing. One of the things they will do is start monitoring the pockets of your gums. They actually take measurements of each tooth so they can see how the depth of these pockets change over time. As issues with gum disease get worse, the pockets will get deeper due to the disease eating away at your gums and bones.
The dentist will also perform a deep cleaning to ensure that all plaque and tartar are out of those pockets. You may not be aware of what problems are going on under those pockets and cannot prevent the tartar from doing more damage. That's because once the tartar has formed on your teeth, regular brushing and flossing is not going to get rid of it.
Once you return home, you'll need to be much better about how often you brush and the quality of brushing. It is not enough to simply brush for two minutes. You should be overlapping the toothbrush with your gums so that the bristles angle downward into those pockets. That will help clean the plaque that is inside them and prevent the plaque from turning into tartar.
Our oral surgery and general dental website offers important information on how to prevent dry socket following a tooth extraction. After getting your tooth pulled, a protective blood clot develops over the extraction site. Many of our blog posts explain how this protective clot helps promote healing after an extraction.
You'll learn that if the clot is accidentally dislodged, dry socket may occur, which can raise your risk for infection and heavy bleeding. We'll provide you with important tips on how to prevent this by avoiding smoking and drinking through a straw. You'll also learn that swishing water around your mouth should be avoided for a couple of days following your extraction because doing so creates a suction that may dislodge your clot, leading to dry socket.