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Brushing can be difficult for you if you have sensitive gums. You need to use the correct technique and toothbrush to avoid further damage.

What makes Gums Sensitive?

Even though brushing and flossing are everyday habits, having sensitive gums can make both a painful and challenging experience. When you have sore gums, it can signify a serious problem. Brushing Sensitive gums without using the correct technique and toothbrush can result in bleeding. You can end up having sores in your mouth.

Sensitive gums can be mild or severe. Most people do confuse mild sensitivity as a minor annoyance. To know how to manage and treat sensitive gums, it is essential to understand the causes and symptoms.

What are the symptoms of sensitive gums?

The most common sign of sensitive gums is that you might notice soreness after brushing or flossing your teeth. The pain may gradually subside or linger. Sometimes, sensitive gums are accompanied by swelling, redness, bleeding, and bad breath.

Gum sensitivity is different from tooth sensitivity. Even though the two have similar symptoms. Each depends on the location from which the pain arises. Tooth sensitivity can result from a cavity, loose filling, or worn-down dental enamel.

What can cause sensitive gums?

Gum disease can cause inflammation in the gums. It inflames the tissue that holds teeth, causing tooth pain. Poor dental hygiene is majorly responsible for gum disease. It often occurs when plaque, a sticky film containing bacteria, accumulates on the teeth. 

Gingivitis is the early stage of the disease of the gum. The symptoms include painful and swollen gums that bleed easily. If left untreated, it can advance into a complicated stage called periodontitis.

Periodontitis results if the plaque has spread below the gum line. This causes a strong inflammatory response in the tissue supporting the teeth. If left untreated, it could result in tooth loss when the gums separate from the teeth.

Brushing and flossing too hard can also result in gum sensitivity. This often results from using a toothbrush with hard bristles or the wrong tooth brushing technique.

Sensitivity can also result from dentures or braces. This type of soreness is often temporary. It will resolve once your mouth adjusts to the new dental application.

Toothbrush for sensitive gums

In cases of sensitive gums, a toothbrush with soft bristles is most appropriate. You have to be gentle on the gums while brushing. Please choose the one with a lid cover to prevent bacteria infection and replace it every three months.

Some toothbrushes have been specially designed for those with sensitive teeth. The bristles are designed to be gentle on sensitive teeth and gums. They still provide the effective cleaning needed.

Brushing Technique For Sensitive gums

When you have sensitive gums, brushing too hard or using the wrong toothbrush can worsen symptoms. It would help if you know the right way to brush your teeth. We have explained earlier how to select the best toothbrush for sensitive gums. You need a soft-bristled toothbrush. Choose one with a lid cover to prevent bacteria infection and replace it every three months. Use your toothbrush at an angle of 45 degrees to the gums. You need to brush the junction between the gum and the teeth gently.

You need a lot of mindfulness and carefulness. It would be best if you also changed your hard-brushing ways. Follow these techniques to brush correctly, relieve sensitive gums, and prevent gum and teeth damage.

Gently move the brush back and forth. 

Make use of short, wide strokes to clean the teeth’ inner, outer, and chewing surfaces. If you have a lot of soreness or gum recession, your dentist may recommend using the roll technique instead. If you are using an electric toothbrush, let it do all the work itself. You should lightly glide it over your teeth instead of pushing it with force against them.

To be sure you are using a gentle grip, try holding your toothbrush in your left hand if you use the right usually. Remember to place your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to your gums. With this, the toothbrush bristles can reach and clean underneath the gum line.

Slow down

It is recommended that you brush for two minutes daily. This implies that you spend 30 seconds in each quadrant of the mouth twice a day. You can use a phone’s timer or choose an electric toothbrush to alert you every 30 seconds. This makes you take your time when brushing. If you are not rushing to finish brushing on time, it will keep you more mindful. It will also prevent you from brushing too aggressively.

If you just discovered you have sensitive gums, it is important to visit a dentist and ask the dentist how to clean your gums. If your gums bleed every time you are brushing, it means you have gum disease. This should not stop you, but you should continue brushing.

How to prevent gum or tooth sensitivity

Using the wrong toothbrush or brushing too hard can damage your teeth and gums. This often leads to problems like enamel wear and receding gums. Broken enamel can, in turn, lead to tooth sensitivity. Most people try to brush aggressively, believing it is the only way to get their teeth to feel clean and look whiter. That is wrong. It causes recession of gums and wears away the white, glossy enamel on your teeth. The teeth look yellow and darker when the enamel is removed. And when this happens, you are likely to develop sensitive teeth.

When brushing, you need to take care of your enamel. The enamel is the hard, protective layer that helps your teeth deal with everything you put them through. If it gets damaged, the nerve endings will cause pain when exposed. People with sensitive teeth possibly have some of their enamel worn away.

To prevent this, do not brush too hard. You might be trying to pull a plaque. Sometimes, you are taking off more than a plaque. Also, Side-to-side brushing of the gum line can make your enamel go away faster. And most importantly, you should use a soft-bristled brush and brush at a 45-degree to your gum to keep the enamel clean and strong.