hi everybody I'm dr. Joe Namath I'm a
periodontist in Southfield Michigan and
I want to talk a little bit today about
swollen gums what can cause swollen gums
well the most common cause of swollen
gums is gum disease gingivitis or
periodontitis which is really bacteria
that cause an infection in the gums and
that infection causes the gums to swell
another cause can be ill-fitting or poor
fitting dentures or appliances like
partial dentures those partial dentures
or those appliances can be actually
irritating the gum tissue depending on
how they fit and what how they're
touching the tissue and they can
irritate the tissue and cause swelling
also also medications particularly high
blood pressure medication very commonly
can cause enlarged or swollen gum tissue
sometimes an individual to be sensitive
to certain toothpastes or the component
in certain toothpastes that sometimes
can be irritating or set off enlargement
or swelling of the gum tissue another
cause could be food particles
particularly popcorn kernels or
something like that but yet under the
gum tissue can cause irritation not just
irritation and swelling but they
actually can cause bone destruction once
that's swelling and irritation gets
started under there smoking or vaping
can irritate the tissue what happens is
the nicotine from the tobacco product
actually reduces the blood supply to the
gum tissue making it more susceptible to
bone destruction and gum disease and can
also contribute to swollen or infected
gum tissue so the most important thing
is really not brushing or cleaning your
teeth or flossing properly generally is
a primary cause of gum swelling or
periodontal disease so let's talk about
some of the things that you can do to
stop prevent or minimize or reduce the
swollen gum tissue well the first thing
is flossing thorough
brushing thoroughly if you do that that
will go a long way towards reducing the
problem also a too soft toothbrush you
know soft toothbrushes are good and
that's what we recommend particularly if
you have gum recession but sometimes if
the toothbrush is too soft the tissue
doesn't receive the stimulation that it
should and without that stimulation it's
not as healthy as it can be and so
sometimes going to a slightly firmer
brush actually can be helpful so the use
of a Water Pik or water irrigating
device I use it twice a day myself
I think that's enormous ly helpful and I
think using it on the highest pressure
getting it up to the highest pressure is
really the way to go starting off on low
and over a period of time building up to
the highest pressure also let's talk
about medication as I mentioned certain
medications for high blood pressure
particularly you know we see how we see
swollen gum tissue in these people and
switching those medications to non
calcium channel blockers if that can be
done which frequently it can can help a
lot as long as you keep your blood
pressure under control I think it could
be very valuable to switch blood
pressure medications to something that's
not a calcium channel blocker if you may
be allergic to certain toothpastes you
can try switching toothpastes or using
no toothpaste at all actually I do not
use toothpaste myself toothpaste for the
most part is really not necessary in
most individuals and I generally don't
use toothpaste
in fact sometimes toothpaste can
actually cause abrasion or erosion of
the enamel surface and cause notching
and contribute to recession but you
might try switching toothpastes and if
you still have a problem you could try
using no toothpaste at all
make sure you get your teeth cleaned a
thorough dental cleaning will go a long
way towards reducing swollen gum tissue
so avoid tobacco products smoking cigar
smoking pipe smoking particularly snus
or chewing tobacco
which can really cause damage to the gum
tissue or I've seen precancerous lesions
related to chewing tobacco avoid eating
popcorn if you're having problems with
food getting trapped under your gums
particularly popcorn sometimes if your
teeth aren't tight together if you have
open contacts as they call it food can
get jammed down in there in which case
you might need a filling to close that
open contact as I said one of the most
common and probably the most common
cause of swollen gum tissue is
periodontal disease or periodontitis
that can be treated we use a laser it's
not painful it's very effective in
destroying the bacteria that caused that
swollen gum tissue and teaching him how
to take care of your mouth so that that
disease does not recur and get your
mouth healthy and teach you how to take
care of your mouth so it doesn't come
back again at any rate swollen gums are
almost always a sign of an unhealthy
situation for various reasons and
remember if your mouths not healthy you
are not going to be as healthy as you
could be so if you have a healthier
mouth you are going to have a healthier
body if you have swollen gums look into
it see if you can figure out see your
dentist they can help you we're here to
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