Gum pain: what to do?

How to differentiate toothache from pain caused by gum inflammation, especially since gum pain is often very intense, affecting the entire jaw? In order to independently differentiate the painful condition and choose methods for neutralizing the pain, you need to know the reasons for gum pain.

Causes gum pain

• Gingivitis is the main cause that occurs in 90% of clinical cases of gum inflammation. Gingivitis is a precursor to another gum problem – periodontitis. The disease has its own causes, among which the most common is poor or irregular care of teeth and the oral cavity in general. Often, bacterial plaque that accumulates in hard-to-reach mucous parts of the gums becomes tartar in three days, and the tartar can no longer be cleaned with a toothbrush. Gingivitis can also be caused by hormonal changes during pregnancy and puberty. In addition, uncontrolled intake of certain medications can cause hyperplasia of gum tissue. Among the causes of gingivitis can be vitamin deficiency (vitamin C – scurvy), herpes. Symptoms of gingivitis are characteristic – bleeding, swelling of the gums, which slightly lag behind the teeth. There is practically no pain at the beginning of the process, however, gingivitis of herpetic etiology is often accompanied by gum sensitivity, erosivity and pain.
• Periodontitis. This is a chronic inflammatory process that affects everything that surrounds the tooth, it is no coincidence that the name of the disease has Greek roots: παρα- about, around, ὀδούς - means tooth. The cause of periodontitis has a natural explanation - bacteria that constantly get into the oral cavity and live there, multiplying and destroying everything that is around. The cause of periodontitis is irregular dental care or its complete absence, caries, a weakened immune system. The symptoms are very characteristic - the gums begin to inflame, swell, and lag slightly behind the teeth. Then you feel that the gums hurt when exposed to cold or very hot substances (food and water).
• Cyst. This phenomenon is dangerous because it is asymptomatic; the gums are slightly inflamed at first, but do not hurt. Many people either do not pay attention to this sign, or try to correct the situation with the help of medicinal toothpastes. The symptom subsides, but the process simply “hides” deeper to such an extent that a dense small nodule forms at the site of the primary inflammation – a granuloma, and then a cavity filled with bacteria and their waste products, that is, a cyst. The cyst grows and begins to damage the root tissue. The cyst is rarely accompanied by acute pain, cystic formations are characterized by an increase in body temperature, periodic weak, aching pain in the gums. The cause of cystogranuloma is most often gum infection, less often – trauma and a general infectious disease.
• Stomatitis, its various types - catarrhal, ulcerative, aphthous. This is an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth, which rarely occurs as an independent disease. Most often, stomatitis accompanies candidiasis, scarlet fever and other serious diseases. Stomatitis is a general name that combines glossitis (inflammation of the tongue), gingivitis (inflammatory process in the gums). Symptoms of stomatitis are identical to signs of periodontosis and gingivitis, the difference is a white coating on the mucous membranes or tongue, with ulcerative stomatitis - erosive tissue damage.
• A chip that may be the result of a blow or injury. Part of the tooth may break off when chewing hard food - nuts, bones. Recently, a chip is a consequence of caries, which destroys not only the tooth, but also the gum. Often, vitamin deficiency, especially calcium deficiency in the body, leads to the fact that some teeth begin to crumble in the literal sense of the word. A chipped tooth, when in contact with other teeth, involuntarily begins to damage the gum, an infection can get into the wounds, and, therefore, an inflammatory process begins.

• The gum often hurts after the removal of a diseased tooth. These painful sensations are quite natural and transient. If the gum hurts for five days, you should contact the dentist to find out the true cause of the discomfort.
• Prosthetics. It happens that prostheses and implants are poorly selected and injure the gums. Even if the painful sensations are not acute, bearable, you should not wait for an inflammatory process in the gums. You need to see a doctor again to correct the prosthesis.

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Treatment gum pain

If you have recently had dentures fitted, then you will most likely need to see a doctor again to fix any problems with the dentures and adjust them so that your gums are not injured or sore.

If your gums hurt after using a certain toothpaste that you decided to try for the first time, you just need to change it to a more familiar one or a medicinal one designed to prevent periodontal disease (Lacalut, Parodontax).

If your gums hurt and swell, this may indicate the formation of gumboil, the pain becomes extensive, spreading along the jaw, you need to immediately contact a dental clinic. Any delay is fraught with acute inflammation of the periosteum up to phlegmon (purulent inflammation spreading throughout the body, sometimes to the neck and below).

If your gums hurt very much and you cannot visit a doctor in the next 24 hours, you can take an anesthetic drug - ketanov, analgin, paracetamol. You can also rinse your mouth with a solution of Chlorhexidine.

If the cause of gum pain is a chipped tooth, then you need to schedule a visit to the doctor in the near future to restore not only the health of your gums, but also the beauty of your smile.

What you shouldn’t do when your gums hurt:

• You cannot warm up the gums or use hot rinses;
• You cannot open an abscess (flux) on your own;
• You cannot tolerate pain for more than three days (after tooth extraction – maximum five days);
• You should not try to fit the dentures yourself.

How to treat if gums hurt?

It turns out that the best thing you can do is to visit a dentist in the near future. It is the doctor who will be able to select the right toothpaste, a remedy for removing the first signs of gum inflammation. Until the process has developed to a pathological stage, it can be neutralized by regular brushing of teeth with specialized products and rinses.

If the inflammation is in the development stage, the doctor will determine the root cause and, possibly, clean the infected canals, remove plaque and stones, put in a new filling, sharpen the prosthesis, in a word, eliminate the sources of injury and infection.

If the pain in the gums indicates an acute phase of inflammation, surgical treatment is also possible.

If your gums hurt, you need to understand that this symptom is not only unpleasant, but also alarming, which indicates the onset of an infectious process and can affect not only the oral cavity, but also other vital organs, such as the heart. According to statistics, about 15% of cardiovascular pathologies are associated with poor dental health, which is the source of bacterial infection that penetrates the heart muscle through the bloodstream. Therefore, if there are the slightest signs of gum inflammation and gum pain, you should immediately visit a doctor to prevent the disease at an early stage.