What causes bleeding gums?
Different diseases can lead to bleeding gums, and the following possibilities are common:
1. Oral diseases: such as gingivitis, periodontitis. Dental calculus accumulates around the gums, the gums are red and swollen, and it is particularly prone to bleeding when brushing teeth.
Image source: Figureworm Creative
2. Trauma: Violent impact, including the broken teeth themselves, dislocations, etc., as well as trauma caused by teeth or other hard objects to the gums. In addition, the long edge of the local filling or restoration can also cause chronic irritation to the gums, resulting in bleeding gums.
3. Systemic diseases: patients with blood diseases (such as thrombocytopenia, various types of leukemia), as well as patients with severely impaired liver function, etc., can manifest as bleeding gums because the coagulation mechanism in the blood is destroyed.
4. Drug factors: the use of anticoagulants, or tumor chemotherapy drugs and other reasons may lead to abnormal coagulation function, or thrombocytopenia, etc., resulting in bleeding gums.
What should I do if my gums bleed? What to watch out for?
Seeking medical attention as early as possible is a good recipe, but because many times when gum bleeding occurs, you can't find a dentist immediately, so you can have some emergency adjustments for bleeding symptoms before seeking medical treatment.
First, don't be too nervous. Most of the gum bleeding is not very violent, and most of them will stop bleeding on their own.
Second, don't be afraid to brush your teeth because of slight bleeding in your gums.
Many people have the misconception that bleeding gums cannot be brushed – in fact, the more bleeding gums, the more they indicate inflammation; and brushing your teeth to get dirty things removed is conducive to reducing the risk of bleeding gums.
Third, if the amount of bleeding gums is large, you can use dry cotton balls and gauze to compress the bleeding site.
To put it simply, the gauze is pressed on the bleeding area for at least 20 to 30 minutes, and then observed, most of which can stop the bleeding. If you continue out, you can repeat this step.
In addition, topical cold compresses can also be applied. For example, taking ice cubes on the cheeks corresponding to the bleeding, or containing ice cubes and ice water, all have the effect of stopping bleeding.
It should be noted that if the above measures do not alleviate the bleeding gums, or the bleeding is further aggravated, or other accompanying physical discomfort symptoms appear, you need to go to the hospital in time to further clarify the cause.
The author of the entry
Lilac Doctor Health Encyclopedia team
Audit specialists
Ying Han is the deputy chief physician of the Department of Oral Mucosa
Planning and production
Planner: Yu Kai | Producer: Monkey Pigeon
Image source: Lilac Doctor content team, Figureworm Creative