Gingivitis is a common form of gum disease that causes swelling or inflammation of your gums. Gingivitis can cause your gums to become swollen and begin to bleed just by brushing the teeth, eating or just touching the gums. The condition is the preclude to periodontal disease, which is a disease of the tissues that surround the neck and root of the teeth. There is a way to get rid of gingivitis, but it has to done every day or it won’t help for long.
- Use dental floss to clean between your teeth. You need to floss first so you loosen anything caught between your teeth. Use either dental floss, floss picks or floss wands. They are available in waxed, non-wax, flavored or unflavored.
- Brush your teeth. Brushing after you floss will help to get rid of anything loosened between your teeth. Rmember to brush along the gum line, up, down and across your teeth because plaque can get set up at the gum line, not just between the teeth.
- Scrape your tongue with a tongue scrapper or the back of your toothbrush. Scrape back to front several times. This will help to remove any bacteria on your tongue, which can contribute to bad breath and plaque buildup.
- Make a paste with baking soda and peroxide. Apply this paste to your gums, gently massaging it in. Leave it on for a few minutes and then rinse with water.
- Rinse with mouthwash. There are many brands and flavors of mouthwash. Find one that can help prevent gingivitis, and that helps reduce plaque buildup and kills oral bacteria. This, in turn, helps defeat and prevent bad breath.
- Visit your dentist. If your gums are puffy, red, swollen or bleeding, you need to see your dentist. Getting a professional tooth cleaning will help remove the plaque and tartar that cause gingivitis and can prevent the gingivitis from progressing to periodontal disease.
Tips & Warnings
- The main reason a person develops gingivitis is because of plaque buildup between the teeth. If ignored, this plaque becomes tartar and your dentist will need to help you get rid of it.
- Eating and drinking less sugary foods will help keep plaque and tartar away. Scraping the inside of your teeth when you scrape your tongue also helps to get rid of bacteria.
- Taking vitamin C can help stop the bleeding of the gums, but it will not cure your gingivitis.
- If you smoke, you need to stop. If you won’t stop smoking, then you need to make sure not to smoke when your gums are inflamed. Tobacco can cause cancer of the mouth and sores in your mouth and on your gums.
- One of the signs of early gingivitis is when your gums change color from pink to dark red.