How long should my gums bleed after a deep cleaning?

[Dean06]

It's been 4 days since my deep cleaning and my gums are still bleeding. Not just a "tinge of pink" in my saliva, two of molars are encapsulated in a clot of the blood coming from my gums around them. The clot keeps forming, but it seems like it's still bleeding despite the clot.

I have not been to a dentist since the 1990s, and last Thursday I got my first "deep cleaning" ever on the right side of my mouth. I had a bad buildup on my teeth, and I know that the gums may bleed longer for people who haven't gotten a cleaning in a while, but at what point do I need to go to a hospital?

I went back to the dentist on Friday, and him and several other employees spent an hour getting the bleeding to lessen. They then sent me to a "specialist" dentist in town who they called about me. They aid they may have nicked an artery or something about a lesion (they did not bother explaining to me what a lesion might be). When I got to the specialist, he looked in my mouth for literally 20 seconds and said I just needed to use gauze and clamp my teeth down on it. He specifically said there was "no way" it was an artery or lesion after just a cleaning.

I've been trying my best to floss and brush around the bleeding, and I've been using saltwater rinses every few hours, plus I tried a peroxide rinse and been using the prescribed mouthwash. It stopped bleeding for a few hours each day but started bleeding again--I think usually after I had laid my head down but not always (but I haven't been literally laying "down", I've been sleeping on the couch in a sitting position but with my head on a pillow).

If I go back to this dentist, he's just going to tell me to go back to the specialist, or maybe the ER (which is something I don't know if I can afford). Is that what I need to do? Or can it be normal for gums to bleed for several days after a deep cleaning? Why is it stopping for a while and then starting up again?

 

[Gordon]

They're right about one thing, it's impossible to have nicked an artery during a cleaning. Are you taking any meds? Including herbal stuff?
I'd be thinking about you going to your primary care physician for some blood tests, this level of bleeding isn't normal.

 

[Dean06]

No medications or herbal stuff. I had taken some Tylenol the first day but nothing since. No coffee since the day before my cleaning either.

As of this morning, it's clotted again and not bleeding, but I figure if I irritate the clot it will probably start bleeding again so I'm trying not to irritate the clot. I have several other cuts, etc on my body from various other things that have healed up just fine.

If it was something I need a blood test for, wouldn't all my wounds be taking longer to heal? Or do you mean to check for infection?

 

[Gordon]

No I mean to check you've got enough platelets for your blood to clot properly.

 

[YSheepY]

Hi Dean,

I have also done a deep cleaning first time in my life two days ago. I was not bleeding the first day after the cleaning, but today I woke up to a mouth full of blood and blood clots around two upper teeth. I am wondering in your case, how did it heal up eventually, till when did the bleeding stop?

Thanks.