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How quickly does gum disease develop?

Judythecat

Judythecat

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2018
Messages
631
Please can someone help? I had a checkup three weeks ago. My gum scores were 0s and 1s, other than a 2 in top right where I had a bit of bleeding between two molars, both crowned. I had an air-flow Polish at the same appointment. I brush twice a day with an Oral B electric toothbrush, floss and use tepe brushes. I use disclosing tablets once a week, and never show “old plaque”, even though I use them before I brush instead of after. I just flossed my teeth, and had bleeding between the tooth next to my big front upper right tooth, and its neighbour. (The neighbour is the pointy one.) I have never had bleeding gums before and am completely freaked out! It doesn’t look puffy or swollen. It wasn’t bleeding when I flossed this morning, and no other teeth are bleeding. It feels stingy now.

Is it possible I have developed gum disease in just three weeks? My appointment was on 30 October.
Is it possible I nicked the gum or something while flossing?

It’s my time of the month, which always makes my gums feel a bit tender.

Thank you for reading if you did. (This post probably sounds stupid, but I suffer with atypical facial pain and get really panicky.)
 
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This is the tooth. Apologies for the horrid photo!

(Out of sheer vanity I have added a proper photo of my teeth because that one is so disgusting.)
 

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Hi Judy, still not a dentist, but wanted to offer a kind of first aid reply. There is no way how you could develop gum disease in such a short time and with such a great home care. My dentist explained to me that bleeding in one area can simply mean there is some bacteria present and giving that area a bit more attention when flossing should take care of it. I think a small injury from flossing could be possible too (guessing here).
If you never had bleeding on your gums before (which sounds impressive!) before I can understand this is freaking you out, but I couldn't imagine this being any major issue.

And your post doesn't sound stupid at all :)
 
Enarete is spot on... perfect answer :)
 
Thank you both for replying. There was blood when I flossed again this morning, so I have rubbed some Gengigel round it - I had it from when my wisdom tooth gum was puffy - so hopefully that will help.

There’s no bleeding anywhere else. I am spiralling into wondering if there is something up with the tooth/teeth, but neither is sore, and neither has ever had any treatment.
 
I have never had bleeding in my gums before this year. I am also a diligent flosser.
In June, I had a little bleeding around a premolar when I flossed. It didn't hurt, but I had the molar next to it extracted two weeks prior and was very nervous that it was related to the extraction. The dentist took a peek and said nothing was wrong, even though it still bled a bit when he prodded the area. He said it looked like there was a bit of irritation, most likely from a bit of food or an errant toothbrush bristle. He told me to use chlorhexidine for a few days and if it didn't clear up in a week to call back. It cleared up and I haven't had issues since.

Hopefully yours is something similar.

Thank you both for replying. There was blood when I flossed again this morning, so I have rubbed some Gengigel round it - I had it from when my wisdom tooth gum was puffy - so hopefully that will help.

There’s no bleeding anywhere else. I am spiralling into wondering if there is something up with the tooth/teeth, but neither is sore, and neither has ever had any treatment.
 
I have never had bleeding in my gums before this year. I am also a diligent flosser.
In June, I had a little bleeding around a premolar when I flossed. It didn't hurt, but I had the molar next to it extracted two weeks prior and was very nervous that it was related to the extraction. The dentist took a peek and said nothing was wrong, even though it still bled a bit when he prodded the area. He said it looked like there was a bit of irritation, most likely from a bit of food or an errant toothbrush bristle. He told me to use chlorhexidine for a few days and if it didn't clear up in a week to call back. It cleared up and I haven't had issues since.

Hopefully yours is something similar.

No bleeding this morning! I tend to take a manual toothbrush round my upper wisdom tooth at that side after brushing with the electric brush, and for the last week or so have been going over all my teeth with it a second time. Not sure why, and I need to stop it, but I think I possibly just over-brushed and irritated the gum a bit?
 
Was it a brand new tooth brush? Sometimes the bristles can be a tiny bit rough and can cause a bit of bleeding when you start with them.
 
Was it a brand new tooth brush? Sometimes the bristles can be a tiny bit rough and can cause a bit of bleeding when you start with them.

Actually, no, and it was a wee baby’s toothbrush so should be soft! But no bleeding when I flossed again this evening, so fingers crossed it was just a bit irritated. I have an ulcer that has popped up out of the blue down at the bottom, so I think I am run down in general. Roll on the Christmas holidays!
 
Get some more Vitamin B12 and Folic acid into your system, your mucous membranes are very sensitive to lack of these essentials.
Special K cereal is a very good source of them or for folic acid, you can eat more veggies like cauliflower and broccoli.
 
Get some more Vitamin B12 and Folic acid into your system, your mucous membranes are very sensitive to lack of these essentials.
Special K cereal is a very good source of them or for folic acid, you can eat more veggies like cauliflower and broccoli.

Thanks so much. I actually have some B12 tablets which I started taking when I was being investigated by Max Fac re neuralgia. My levels tested fine, so I stopped them, but that was about 18 months ago. I am not keen on milk, so don’t tend to eat cereal, but broccoli I can definitely do!
 
There appears to be some evidence that lower levels of B12/Folate can give some clinical symptoms but are within normal tolerances. I suspect that we'll be lowering the "normal'' levels in the future.
 
There appears to be some evidence that lower levels of B12/Folate can give some clinical symptoms but are within normal tolerances. I suspect that we'll be lowering the "normal'' levels in the future.

That’s interesting, thank you - the B12 might actually help the neuralgia, then. I had broccoli with dinner earlier!
 
For best results, try making soup with it, so you don't pour out most of the vitamins in the cooking water :)
 
For best results, try making soup with it, so you don't pour out most of the vitamins in the cooking water :)

<Whispers quietly> it was actually frozen, and steamed. We eat a lot of frozen veg, because otherwise we end up leaving bits to go slimy in the fridge which is such a waste. Plus, cleaning. I read somewhere it’s just as good as fresh, and I am sticking with that!
 
Frozen is good, I saw an article once comparing frozen to fresh veg and the frozen had much more vitamins and minerals in it, the frozen stuff gets picked and frozen very quickly, the fresh stuff can be lying around for days...
 
Frozen is good, I saw an article once comparing frozen to fresh veg and the frozen had much more vitamins and minerals in it, the frozen stuff gets picked and frozen very quickly, the fresh stuff can be lying around for days...

I think we probably read a variation of the same thing. (I am also highly susceptible to advertising, and there was an ad for Birds Eye Peas that said exactly this.)
 
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