By Dixie Somers
Gum pain can be one of the most excruciating and obnoxious pains you will ever feel in your life.Since your gums are such a sensitive area of the body, the slightest irritation can cause significant pain However, we often try to ignore this type of pain until it goes away.The problem is, ignoring gum pain can allow the problem to escalate until you are in even more pain. While sore gums can be caused by almost anything, these causes below are among the most common. Keep reading to determine what could be causing your pain, and how to get rid of it ASAP.
Poor Dental Hygiene
Many people don’t realize that one of the biggest causes of sore gums is poor dental hygiene. In addition to possibly causing gum disease, poor dental hygiene will also cause the buildup of plaque. When plaque starts to build on the teeth, the gums will become irritated and start to bleed. This is why your dentist is constantly giving you “flossing guilt” and trying to get you to floss nightly. Flossing protects the gums by getting rid of plaque before it has too much time to build up.
Wisdom Teeth
Pericoronitis is an infection of the gums that occurs when wisdom teeth only partially erupt. Food and plaque can easily get caught between the tooth and gums. This will allow bacteria to grow rapidly, which leads to the infection of the gums. In addition to the swelling and pain, pericoronitis also causes an extremely bad taste in your mouth. If you haven’t yet had your wisdom teeth removed, you could be experiencing pain in the gums towards the back of the mouth due to impacted wisdom teeth that don’t have room to grow.
Tobacco Use
Everyone knows that tobacco use greatly increases your chances at getting cancer, but beyond that, it also causes gum disease. If you have been using tobacco for a good portion of your life, then you will most likely experience gum pain. The best course of action is to meet with a dentist in order to determine just how much damage has been done to the gums and the rest of the mouth as well.
Medication
Several medications have the ability to irritate the gums. The reason for this is that saliva is needed to properly clean the gums, but most medications reduce the amount of saliva in the mouth. Birth control pills are the most common medications that are known to cause gum pain. If you are taking any medications that are causing your mouth to dry out, there are a few easy solutions that will get rid of dry mouth—including chewing gum or drinking more water.
Ill-Fitting Dentures
While this obviously only applies to a select group of people, ill-fitting dentures are only of the most common causes of gum pain. When dentures do not fit properly, they are going to scrape and rub against the gums every time you move your mouth. This damage to the gums is going to cause extremely painful gums over time. Having dentures that don’t fit perfectly are going to cause serious problems later down the road, so be sure to get the right fit in the beginning and talk with your dentist if there are any sizing issues that are causing discomfort.
Infections
While gingivitis or any other infection in the mouth is certainly going to cause gum pain, almost any other bacterial or viral infection will also damage your gums. The damage caused by the infection can intensify if you are forced to take medications. There are some home remedies, and over-the-counter medications or gels that will get rid of an infection—however, if the pain persists, it is best to see a dentist in case you have a full-fledged gum disease. Once the infection is gone, the gum pain should go away, so if you are still experiencing pain it probably means that the infection is still present.
We often ignore gum pain in hopes that it will fade, or take aspirin so it doesn’t bother us too much. However, ignoring this type of pain gives bacteria more time to form and can result in serious problems. The best way to reduce or eliminate the gum pain is by identifying the cause. If the typical remedies don’t work, then a trip to the dentist is in order. The sooner you can determine the root cause of the gum pain, the remedy is likely an easy one. The information for this article was provided by dental specialists who specialize in wisdom teeth research in Salt Lake City.