Author: Lizzie Smith – blog last updated on Tuesday 5th January 2024
Do you suffer from inflamed gums? If so, you should take action immediately!
Inflamed gums (gingivitis) usually occur because plaque accumulates in the sulcus – the space between your teeth and gums. In healthy gums, the sulcus depth varies from 1 to 3 mm, and plaque (a mixture of food residues, saliva and bacteria) can accumulate here. If you don’t remove the plaque, it will harden into tartar.
Healthy gums are pink in colour and fit well with your teeth. In contrast, inflamed gums are red and irritated. There may also be swelling and touch. For example, brushing your teeth may be sensitive or painful. Inflamed gums can also bleed when brushing or flossing your teeth.
Inflamed gums are usually caused by a chronic infection, which can cause the gums to recede. The gums no longer fit correctly to the teeth, so they can no longer protect the sensitive dentin. Dentin without the protective layer of enamel can lead to sensitive teeth, and caries (cavities) can develop more quickly.
Occasionally, acute gingivitis can be caused by a streptococcal infection or pregnancy gingivitis.
Why take action to treat inflamed gums?
Untreated gingivitis can eventually develop into periodontal disease. This means the gums are inflamed, and the infection spreads into the deeper tissues around the tooth or molar. Ultimately, even the bone tissue is affected, which can lead to bone breakdown and loose teeth.
The further the inflammation progresses, the more discomfort it causes. The excess of bacteria causes bad breath, and gingivitis leads to pain when chewing and brushing teeth. In addition, inflammation in the mouth harms your overall health.
So, if you notice you have irritated or inflamed gums, don’t ignore it! You can treat irritated or slightly inflamed gums yourself by paying extra attention to your daily oral hygiene. However, even better is to prevent inflamed and bleeding gums in this way. If you remove plaque properly every day, less tartar can form, which significantly reduces the risk of gum infections.
Sometimes, inflamed gums must be treated by a dentist or dental hygienist. This will not only treat the inflammation but also remove the tartar. If you pay more attention to your daily oral hygiene after such a dental cleaning, you can prevent gum infections in the future.
What can cause inflamed gums?
As mentioned, plaque is the most common cause of irritated and inflamed gums. If you don’t remove this sticky mix of bacteria, food particles and saliva daily. In that case, it will remain in your mouth – especially in the border between gums and teeth and the interdental spaces between your teeth and molars, where plaque quickly accumulates. It can then harden into porous tartar, so even more plaque can settle.
The bacteria in the plaque attack the gums, causing more and more space in the sulcus, which, when deeper than 3mm, are called “pockets”. The deeper the pockets, the more bacteria can collect in them and the more drastic the treatment required.
In addition, there are several factors that, in combination with dental plaque, contribute to gingivitis.
- Reduced resistance, for whatever reason. An unhealthy diet gives harmful bacteria an extra chance to irritate and inflame the gums. So, vitamin C is essential for healthy gums.
- Hormonal fluctuations, such as during menopause or pregnancy, can make the gums more sensitive to inflammation.
- Smoking and excessive use of alcohol each individually increase the risk of gum disease. However, a combination of the two causes an increased risk, with the toxins affecting the oral flora and drying out the oral cavity.
How to treat inflamed gums yourself
As soon as you notice your gums are irritated or slightly inflamed, it’s essential to take immediate action. This prevents the inflammation from becoming more severe and causing discomfort, such as bad breath, chewing and pain when brushing your teeth.
In addition, gum infections harm your overall health. For example, they increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders. Neglected gingivitis will eventually develop into periodontal disease, which can cause irreparable damage to bone tissue and, ultimately, the loss of teeth and molars.
How to get started:
1. Good oral hygiene
It may seem obvious, but it certainly isn’t! We all know we should brush our teeth twice daily for 2 minutes. But good oral hygiene involves much more than that.
Brushing technique
First of all, there’s the brushing technique. To properly remove plaque from the sulcus, the small space between teeth and gums, you must place the toothbrush at an angle of 45 degrees to the teeth. Remember, your teeth have two sides and a chewing surface, and your back molars have a back.
Brush your gums gently (not too hard) to avoid damage. With electric and sonic toothbrushes, this happens almost automatically. They’re also better at removing plaque than a manual toothbrush. If you prefer to use a manual toothbrush, be sure to do it very carefully and gently. Ask your dentist or dental hygienist for instructions if you’re unsure about your brushing technique.
Interdental spaces
You should also clean your interdental spaces daily. These are the places between your teeth and molars. Plaque quickly accumulates here, so it’s a perfect place for irritated or inflamed gums. You can keep these areas clean with dental floss, toothpicks and/or interdental brushes.
Clean tongue
Research shows that cleaning the tongue with a tongue scraper or a special tongue brush drastically reduces the amount of harmful bacteria in the mouth. Cleaning your tongue daily is a good habit if you want perfect oral hygiene and less chance of gum infections.
The best instrument for this is the RyttPro Tongue Cleaner, a tongue scraper on one side and a tongue brush with soft bristles on the other. In addition to this ingenious tongue cleaner, the RyttPro Clean Tongue Kit also contains RyttPro Oral Foam. This allows you to make the cleaning between your tongue papillae with the tongue brush side even deeper and more effective. Of course, with effective yet mouth-friendly ingredients.
Ingredients of oral care products
Speaking of ingredients, knowing your toothpaste’s components is crucial for good oral hygiene. As strange as it may seem, many toothpastes on the market contain corrosive, acidifying or drying ingredients. These affect the balance in the oral cavity, which, in the long run, is counterproductive in preventing gum infections.
However, you do need to deal with harmful oral bacteria, and you can do this without disrupting the natural balance of your oral flora. For example, with RyttPro Toothpaste Magic Mint. The powerful OZ-3X formula cleans your teeth by fighting harmful bacteria and neutralising the acidity in the mouth.
Using a mouth rinse after brushing and flossing is also a great idea. Your mouthwash rinses away the last remnants of plaque and completes your daily oral hygiene. But the ingredients of mouthwash must also be mouth-friendly. Choose the accompanying RyttPro Oral Rinse.
2. Remove tartar yourself
You can remove supra-gingival (visible) tartar yourself. This saves you dental costs, keeps your teeth white, and prevents further growth of tartar. Just make sure you don’t do it using acids such as vinegar and lemon juice. Whilst this makes tartar porous, so you can easily remove it, these acids also attack your tooth enamel.
To remove tartar yourself, you need a steady hand and the right dental tools. However, limit yourself to the supra-gingival tartar you can see on your teeth. Removing the sub-gingival tartar under your gums is a job for your dentist or dental hygienist.
You can remove tartar yourself with the following tools:
- The Moist-R Whitening Sponge is not a hard instrument but a soft sponge. Yet, it can clean your teeth on an intense level. The sponge works based on the absorption capacity of nanoparticles. When they come into contact with water, they form nano-capillary tubes with an even greater absorption capacity. It erases the dirt from your teeth. You’ll notice your plaque disappears quickly. However, you’ll have to use the sponge more often to remove tartar.
- The traditional instrument for removing tartar is a dental bracket. The Profi dental bracket is a complete set of two dental brackets and a mouth mirror. These stainless steel brackets are comparable to the dental brackets that your dentist uses.
3. RyttPro Healthy Gums Kit
You get everything you need with the RyttPro Healthy Gums Kit for a quick, intensive treatment of early gingivitis. This contains those mentioned above effective, mouth-friendly RyttPro toothpaste Magic Mint and RyttPro Mouthwash, as well as a mouthguard, so the toothpaste works longer on your gums at the location of the inflammation. If you want to do the job even more thoroughly, fill the mouthguard with some RyttPro Oral Foam, available to buy separately. A jaw syringe has also been added to the kit, with which you can spray the mouthwash directly onto the inflammation.
4. Healthy lifestyle and healthy diet
An unhealthy diet causes a deficiency of minerals and vitamins (including vitamin C) necessary to keep gums healthy. At the same time, an unhealthy diet contains many sugars and carbohydrates, which provide food for harmful oral bacteria.
Unhealthy habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption also promote the growth of harmful bacteria in the mouth. This causes more plaque and tartar, acidification and a disruption of the natural balance of the oral flora. A combination of smoking and alcohol is, therefore, terrible for the gums! To prevent gum infections, it’s advisable to stop doing both. If necessary, seek help from your GP.
5. Consult your dentist
With the above measures, you can quickly suppress the onset of gum disease. However, if it’s still impossible within two weeks, visit your dentist or dental hygienist. This also applies to a more advanced case of gingivitis that you may have overlooked.
Even though you can do a lot yourself to prevent inflamed gums, regular dental check-ups and cleanings by a professional are still necessary. However, the measures you take yourself can ensure their treatments are less frequent and drastic.
How to prevent inflamed gums
Follow the old and proven wisdom… prevention is better than cure! Ultimately, prevention is much less cumbersome than treating gum disease, whether you do it yourself or treatment by the dentist is necessary.
To help prevent gum infections, you can also follow the tips mentioned in this article:
- Good oral hygiene with a good brushing technique, a good toothbrush, flossing and brushing, cleaning your tongue, and using oral care products with effective but safe ingredients.
- Visibly remove tartar with the suitable instruments.
- A healthy lifestyle
If necessary, have tartar removed promptly by a dentist or dental hygienist. Then, keep your teeth clean using the tips above.
Sources
Oral Health Foundation: Gum disease
British Dental Journal: Time to take gum disease seriously