Inflamed gums (?) - how to get rid of them?

[Hazim]

Hi guys - I'm almost 15. I had braces when I was 13, and against the dentist's orders (I never paid attention), she always told me to regularly floss. I never did floss, and when I got my braces off I noticed my gums became inflamed and large, they move upwards to the tooth now. I googled an image - it looks somewhat like this:




(that's not me, just an image, my gums look somewhat like that, a little smaller)

Sometimes I feel like just cutting them off. (even though it would probably be severely unhealthy). (no, I'm not going to cut them, don't worry lol). What can I do to make them go away? I can't stand having them.

 

[Hazim]

Does Vegetable oil work? Or Olive Oil? Do I apply it on my gums then sleep with it or what?

 

[Gordon]

Wouldn't it be easier just to go to the dentist?

 

[Hazim]

Obviously, yes. However, I live overseas and I visit home in the US only three times a year, and my official dentist is there. I just wanted to get these gums down before I go back. They make me look horrible and they're quite frankly really annoying.

 

[Gordon]

Well, it's difficult, there's probably some tartar (calculus) under the gum margin that is causing the inflammation. If that's not removed first then there's not likely to be much improvement no matter what you do.
You could try using a Chlorhexidine based toothpaste, pull your bottom lip down out of the way to see what you're doing and rub it well in with your finger tip to the affected area.

 

[wozzle]

do they hurt? mine look like this but ache, i have been told to use corsydl mouthwash and salt water rinses

 

[Hazim]

How long do you think it'd take to see a visible change?

 

[Gordon]

Honestly? I don't think you will, if there's calculus there then your efforts won't make any difference. If it's going to improve you'll notice within 2-3 days.

 

[Hazim]

Honestly? I don't think you will, if there's calculus there then your efforts won't make any difference. If it's going to improve you'll notice within 2-3 days.

Not sure where exactly I can get ahold of such toothpicks. What about those things that scrape under your gum? The metal rods that dentists use - I have a home set.

Will that suffice?

 

[Gordon]

DIY dentistry isn't easy, I'm a fully qualified dentist and I find it very difficult to do any dentistry on myself (yeah, I've tried!). So just having the tools doesn't help much. You just can't see what you're doing with them.

 

[Hazim]

I just clean between the gum and the tooth, sometimes there's some plaque - is that the cause perhaps?

 

[Gordon]

The problem is Calculus. Google it

 

[Hazim]

Just did - thanks for telling me. Gonna look into this.

 

[letsconnect]

I know this is an old thread, but for some reason, a certain search engine thinks it's highly relevant to people trying to figure out how to heal a gum infection. Seeing how we've got a whole page dedicated to this topic, I thought I'd add it to this thread :

How to prevent and stop gum disease from getting worse

Is flossing is pointless? How do you best look after your gums? Find out how to prevent gum disease or stop it from getting worse!

www.dentalfearcentral.org