Gum Irritation After Scaling and Root Planing?

[petrified2death]

Today was a week since I got my bottom teeth deep cleaned. On Wednesday, it will be a week since I got my top teeth cleaned. Anyways, just a quick background info, I have a permanent retainer in the back of my 5 front teeth and it was very difficult to get back there to clean. So I developed periodontitis really bad in those front teeth. I get the deep cleaning done and it looks like night and day. They were still very red but the gums started to form nicely around the teeth. Anyways, for a couple of days now, I have been seeing that the gum is getting a little irritated on the edges. I'm brushing and flossing thorougly So it's not from lack of brushing. But I'm also careful not to brush too hard because I hear that can cause irritation too. It still looks better than how I had it before, but should I be concerned about the irritation on the edges of the gums? They are not as red as before but I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or what. Should I still give it a little more time to for the irritation to go away? Does it seem like they are still healing? I'm thinking the worse the problem, the longer the healing will be? My husband says that was there before when I first had it deep cleaned (I'm obsessively having him check...lol), but who know if he's just saying that to shut me up. Overall, they look way better now that I've had the cleaning done.

Oh, I forgot to mention that per my dentist's instructions, I'm using Listerine mouthwash. The alcohol is so strong, it burns my mouth. I can't help to think what it's doing to my gums The assistant girl told me that is the benefit of the Listerine for my problem, is the alcohol. I don't know, I'm thinking about not using it tonight to see if that's what causing the irritation. My husband says I should use the Listerine no matter what. I don't know....

 

[olivacs]

Hi there....
As you know I have been thru it all already...LOL
Anyways, the redness you are talking about is something I had as well. I asked my dentist about this and she said this is normal and will disappear in about 2-3 weeks after having the deep cleaning. Your gums are still healing and its all part of the process. Give it some more time like another week or two and I think it will disappear like mine did.

As for the listerine, I use it occasionally. I know I made mention that I am using peridex and have had good results with it although the side effects are staining of the teeth although during professional teeth cleaning those stains will be removed. I have also started another type of mouthwash called biotine. It has no alcohol in it and it is made for dry mouth, mouth irritations and to help regulate the bacteria in your mouth. It has helped me so much. I no longer have dry mouth and all of that gross white bacteria that used to sit on my tongue is not there anymore. The best investment I have made yet.

You are doing great with your home treatment and just keep it up. Everything else will go back to normal soon..just takes some time to heal.

Hope this helps you...

 

[petrified2death]

Thanks, Olivacs, for your reply. Ok, I will give it more time. I think that this may not have helped. I was using a capful of Listerine instead of the 4 teaspoons/20 ml (which comes out to 1/2 of a capful) that is recommended on the label. I just assumed that it was a capful and never measured it and my husband told me it was a capful. When I did a little bit of research online, it says that too much Listerine can get rid of good and bad germs in your mouth and may cause irritation. But this was just advice from regular users in those yahoo questions/answers thing. So I don't think that too much Listerine with all that alcohol was helping. But it makes me feel better to know that it still take a little bit more time to heal.

Thanks again for your response!