Your teeth are most likely the first thing that springs to your mind when discussing oral health matters. While dental health is essential, your gums are equally important. After all, they anchor your teeth in place and help improve the aesthetics of your smile. Unfortunately, at some point in your life, you could experience gum sensitivity, making daily oral care activities like brushing your teeth troublesome.
On top of that, sensitive gums can make it challenging to chew or eat cold or hot foods, affecting your nutrition. However, the good news is that gum sensitivity is a treatable condition. Understanding the root cause of your gum sensitivity is paramount to treating the issue effectively and preventing these bothersome symptoms.
While pinpointing the root cause of your issue can be challenging, a seasoned dentist with proper modern dentistry equipment can help.
Symptoms of Gum Sensitivity
Experiencing soreness on your gums whenever you floss or brush your teeth could be a sign of sensitive gums. However, the pain and soreness will gradually reduce or linger. Sometimes, the following symptoms could also accompany gum sensitivity issues:
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Bad breath
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Gum redness
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Gum bleeding
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Gum swelling
It is important to note that gum sensitivity and tooth sensitivity are two different issues. Depending on the specific location of your pain, it could be challenging to determine whether your issue comes from the teeth or gums.
However, if you have a tooth sensitivity issue, you will likely experience sharp pain in the affected tooth when drinking or eating hot or cold foods and drinks. Some of the underlying causes of tooth sensitivity include the following:
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A loose filling
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A cavity
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Worn-out or eroded dental enamel
Common Causes of Gum Sensitivity
Even though you do your best to maintain your dental and oral health, you could find yourself asking why you are experiencing gum sensitivity issues at some point. Explained below are some of the causes of this issue among most people:
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Brushing Your Teeth Too Hard
Believe it or not, aggressive tooth brushing can cause several oral health issues, including sensitive gums. The goal of brushing your teeth is to eliminate food particles lingering in your teeth and gum plaque that harmful bacteria in your mouth feast on and release acidic excretions. However, that does not mean you should brush your teeth too hard.
Aggressive tooth brushing could irritate your gums and cause enamel erosion, ultimately leading to gum sensitivity. Investing time and effort in your oral and dental health is a good idea, but it is imperative to treat your teeth and gums gently.
The teeth-brushing technique is more crucial than force when it comes to your dental and oral health issues because your gums and teeth are more sensitive than you could anticipate. The toothbrush you use to brush your teeth could also cause gum sensitivity. If your toothbrush has stiff bristles, you should consider switching to one with soft bristles to avoid injuring your gums.
Consuming Acidic Foods
Specific foods and beverages, especially highly acidic ones, could leave your gums feeling sensitive after feasting on them. You could notice visible canker sores, redness, or even receding gums when you consume many citrus fruits or too much sugary yogurt or soda.
If these foods are a part of your diet, try cutting them out for a few days to see if that helps with your gum sensitivity. When your gum sensitivity issue persists, you should consult your dentist to help pinpoint the root cause of this bothersome condition.
Dental Appliances
Wearing dentures, braces, and retainers can chafe or poke on your gum line, leaving these tender tissues feeling sore and swollen. That is particularly true if you have just received your dental appliances recently. Sometimes, this soreness could subside once your mouth grows accustomed to your new dental appliances.
However, if the soreness and sensitivity caused by the appliances persist, you should consult with your dentist for adjustment, replacement, or other solutions, like using wax around them.
Poor Oral Hygiene and Gingivitis
Poor dental and oral health is one of the leading causes of gingivitis, creating an excellent environment for plaque to thrive. Plaque is a pale yellow or colorless sticky film that coats your teeth when sugars from the food you consume combine with bacteria.
When not eliminated on time through regular teeth brushing, this plaque can harden into tartar, necessitating a thorough dental cleaning through a procedure known as scaling and root planing. The plaque and tartar buildup on and below the surface of your teeth can cause inflammation of your gums (gingivitis). When that happens, you could experience sensitivity in your gums.
Gingivitis is the early-stage form of gum disease and is often characterized by gum swelling, redness, bleeding, and sensitivity. When left unchecked, gingivitis could worsen and become periodontitis. To prevent these issues, you should avoid skipping regular dental appointments with your dentist.
During your routine dental checkups and exams with your dentist, he/she can help eliminate stubborn plaque that is challenging to remove with your toothbrush at home, reducing your chances of developing gingivitis.
Hormonal Changes
Sometimes, the cause of your gum sensitivity could be an issue outside of your control, like hormonal changes, which can occur during puberty, pregnancy, the menstrual cycle, menopause, or after taking birth control.
Hormonal changes can affect how your body responds to bacteria in your mouth, increasing the risk of gum disease. If you are experiencing high progesterone or estrogen levels, you will be more prone to gum sensitivity than a person who is not.
Therefore, if you are pregnant, you should make it a habit to visit your dentist regularly to check your dental and gum health.
Oral Infections
Another common cause of gum sensitivity and soreness issues is mouth ulcers, canker sores, and other oral infections. Some of the common causes of canker sores include the following:
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Stress
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Autoimmune diseases
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Vitamin deficiencies
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Acidic foods
On the other hand, oral infections could include herpes or oral thrush. Some of the symptoms of these infections could include white lesions or sores on your gums.
Stress
While this could seem like a stretch, your stress levels could also affect your oral health. Excessive stress could elevate your cortisol levels (stress hormone). Unfortunately, high levels of this hormone could cause inflammation in different parts of your body, including the gums, ultimately leading to gum sensitivity issues when eating sour, salty, cold, or hot foods and beverages.
Stress levels can also make you more likely to grind your teeth, which could cause painful receding gums and gum sensitivity. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, high stress levels could also reduce your body's immunity, making you more prone to various infections, including gum disease, which is characterized by gum sensitivity.
Diabetes
Uncontrolled diabetes could also affect your dental and gum health because too much sugar in your mouth could encourage the growth of bacteria and plaque, which causes gum sensitivity. If the plaque is left unchecked, you could develop gum disease.
Smoking or Use of Tobacco Products
In addition to increasing your risk of stroke and lung cancer, smoking could also cause gum disease. Chewing tobacco-related products can significantly increase your risk of gum sensitivity because tobacco restricts adequate blood flow to the gums, impairing your healing and making you more prone to infections, including gum disease.
Smoking could also increase your risk of developing gum disease, exacerbating gum pain and discomfort. Smoking also releases harmful chemicals, like cytotoxins, which are enemies of your gum's health. These could destroy tissues and cells in your body, leading to cracked lips, bleeding gums, or canker sores.
Unhealthy Habits
Generally speaking, you can only expect your gums to look after you if you look after them. If your body is deficient in specific vital vitamins and nutrients, your gums will lack the necessary nutrients to fight infection and bacteria. That means you should maintain a healthy diet with foods rich in nutrients that your body and gums need to fight cavities and gum disease.
For example, eating protein-rich food, like lean meat, salmon, and eggs, could help revitalize your gums, reducing the risk of gum disease.
Possible Complications You Should Expect When You Ignore Gum Sensitivity Issues
Ignoring your gum sensitivity issue could be tempting, especially if that sensitivity is intermittent. Unfortunately, doing so could cause more serious oral health issues over time. What begins as gum inflammation or gingivitis could worsen and become periodontitis. Periodontitis is an advanced form of gum disease that causes the following symptoms:
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Bad breath
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Painful gums
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Swollen gums
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Red gums
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Receding gums
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Loose teeth
It is crucial to seek immediate treatment if you detect the above symptoms because when periodontitis is left untreated, it can progress to your jawbone and even allow bacteria to enter the bloodstream, leading to other health issues. According to studies, there is a close connection between gum disease and other systemic health issues, like diabetes and heart disease.
Therefore, keeping up with your oral care practices and visiting your dentist at least twice yearly is key to staying on top of your dental and oral health.
Remedies for Gum Sensitivity
Fortunately, gum sensitivity is a treatable condition. Like most oral health issues, when gum sensitivity is left unchecked, it can grow severe over time. Consulting with a dentist as soon as possible is advisable if you have gum sensitivity. To determine the appropriate treatment for your gum sensitivity issue, your dentist must pinpoint the root cause of the problem.
If you have gingivitis, the dentist will recommend a scaling and root planing procedure (deep cleaning) to eliminate the bacteria-containing plaque on the surface of your teeth and gum line. As the name suggests, this treatment involves two procedures (scaling and root planing). Here is how this treatment works:
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Scaling — During this procedure, the dentist uses a scalar to remove hardened deposits of plaque and tartar from the surfaces of your teeth and roots
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Root planing — During this procedure, the dentist will remove the infected tooth structure and smooth out the tooth roots to make it challenging for harmful bacteria or plaque to reattach
If you have advanced periodontitis, a more sophisticated treatment, like flap and osseous surgery, could be necessary to lessen areas where harmful bacteria can grow. While this procedure is invasive, your dentist will use local anesthesia to numb your gums during the surgery.
Depending on the complexity of your issue, your dentist could also use sedatives like nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. For non-severe or mild gum sensitivity issues caused by your lifestyle and habits, like aggressive tooth brushing, poor diet, or eating acidic foods, your dentist could recommend home-based treatments such as:
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Practicing proper oral hygiene — Brushing your teeth at least twice daily and avoiding aggressive tooth brushing could help alleviate your gum sensitivity issue
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Adjusting your diet — If your diet lacks crucial nutrients that help your gums grow healthy, your dentist could recommend that you incorporate nutrient-dense foods in your diet
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Staying hydrated — Drinking plenty of water helps increase saliva in your mouth, which helps wipe out harmful bacteria that cause gum inflammation and sensitivity
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Quitting smoking — If you love smoking or chewing tobacco products, quitting this unhealthy habit could help alleviate your gum sensitivity issues
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Using antiseptic mouthwash — If the cause of your gum issues is a bacterial attack, using antiseptic mouthwash could help kill harmful bacteria in your mouth
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Stress management practices — Practicing stress management can help prevent teeth clenching or grinding, which is also a culprit for gum sensitivity issues
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Using over-the-counter (OTC) medications — OTC medications like Orajel and Anbesol can help alleviate your gum sensitivity issue
If these home-based remedies do not help alleviate gum sensitivity issues, you should consult your dentist for appropriate recommendations and treatment.
Find an Encino Dentist Near Me
While the above remedies can help alleviate gum sensitivity issues, some issues could require a professional touch. Nonetheless, you should consult with your dentist as soon as possible for a professional checkup if you have gum sensitivity, regardless of the severity of your issue.
We invite you to call our courteous and well-trained dentists at Lasting Impressions Dental Spa at 818-751-5100 if you have gum sensitivity. We are here to offer you and your family the best dental and oral care services, wherever you are in Encino.
