Why Do My Gums Bleed?
01/05/2022
Simply put there's a war going on. Your body vs bacteria. Not just any bacteria, but one type called anaerobic bacteria. This is the type of bacteria that cause a lot of problems in our health. They cannot survive where oxygen is present. Where there's movement and light, there is oxygen. They hide in the slits between your gums and teeth. Don't floss regularly? You will see bleeding when you do get to it and boy does it hurt. Ouch!
Flossing regularly, and I say that because I fail at daily just like any other person. I floss at least every other day. 36 hours of stagnancy will allow the anaerobic bacteria to start forming. If you can do it daily, GREAT! I wasn't raised to floss. Hell, brushing was a sometimes thing admittedly.
Dental care was just not an important aspect of our family life. Teeth were for eating and smiling, that's it. Surviving and eating was more critical. Little did my parents and many others realize, the mouth is a significant contributor to systemic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer's, high cholesterol, GI distress (heartburn or acid reflux to name a couple), arthritis and many more.
Inflammation is the word.
What is inflammation?
According to webmd:
"Inflammation is a process by which your body's white blood cells and the things they make protect you from infection from outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses"
To expand, it means the bacteria breed and multiply to a point the body's military, the immune system, is activated. Call in the troops!
White blood cells, which are much larger than red blood cells, come marching to the site to destroy and conquer the invaders. They travel the same path as the red blood cells, the blood vessels. In order for the white blood cells to fit and get to the battleground, the blood vessels have to expand in size, like a garden hose to a fire hose. This causes the puffiness, one of the cardinal signs of the battle. When the tissues get puffy, they pull away from the teeth causing yet another sign of inflammation, loss of function. One major function of the gums is to deflect food from the substructures. When there is inflammation, even a little, the gums do not hug the teeth anymore. Food is then able to wedge in the space instead of being deflected by the gums.
As the pathways expand, the little red blood cells say "Weeee!!!" And just like puppies and an open door, they flood through and run free. This causes 2 other signs which are redness and bleeding.
As the white blood cells and bacteria fight each other there is an aspect of all war, collateral damage. By-products like acids and enzymes from the bacteria and the white blood cells leak out into the surrounding tissue including teeth and gum tissues. As these byproducts are released it causes tenderness and soreness in our gums. It's a double edged sword to have our body defend itself. The damage done in our teeth and surrounding tissues cause cavities and periodontal disease. The tooth structure, bone and soft tissues dissolve and we see bone loss, gum loss or tooth structure loss which manifests as wobbly teeth and cavities in our teeth. Historically, teeth were lost because they would become loose and sometimes just fall out. Ever have a toothache from a cavity? They used to just yank the teeth that were shaky or painful. Not a very good idea from what we are seeing today. A short term fix, but there was little research to prevent and treat the source of the issue.
Now you know what causes the bleeding in our mouths. War. White blood cells and the military of our body is not infinite. If they are always triggered to fight the bacteria in our mouth, then how can they tend to things going on inside of our bodies?
Periodontal disease includes gingivitis and is what I call the silent disease. It doesn't hurt most of the time. Generally, it just smells and/or bleeds. It can feel tender at times and from what I observed it can also cause cold sensitivity. Who would've thought that this is a serious issue?
I connected the fact that if you don't take care of your teeth your health suffers several years ago prior to the current articles and research that is being released. There are several factors that play into what we need to do to clean our mouths such as salivary flow/components, diet, oral habits, and dental appliances. Each mouth is different, just like our personalities.
It may not be overnight. It may take decades to manifest. Just like building a wall, brick by brick the bacteria and plaque from our mouth enter into our system and eventually circulate in the blood. Historically, we contributed disease to our genetics or old age. One thing I discovered is our dietary habits and dental habits are also genetic. The foods and dental care our parents and people before them are passed down the generations. As I observed health histories of patients, I saw the incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer show up at 60-70 years of age. Then 50s, then 40s, then 30s and now I see high blood pressure and even arthritis in patients as young as in their 20s. This initiated my hunt for information as to why patients were afflicted with "old people" diseases and it all came back to the mouth.
Please don't be a victim to circumstances and understand that you can prevent or reduce diseases and ailments of our body.
Resource: webmd.com. Inflammation. https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/about-inflammation#091e9c5e800a707d-1-1
Flossing regularly, and I say that because I fail at daily just like any other person. I floss at least every other day. 36 hours of stagnancy will allow the anaerobic bacteria to start forming. If you can do it daily, GREAT! I wasn't raised to floss. Hell, brushing was a sometimes thing admittedly.
Inflammation is the word.
What is inflammation?
According to webmd:
"Inflammation is a process by which your body's white blood cells and the things they make protect you from infection from outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses"
To expand, it means the bacteria breed and multiply to a point the body's military, the immune system, is activated. Call in the troops!
White blood cells, which are much larger than red blood cells, come marching to the site to destroy and conquer the invaders. They travel the same path as the red blood cells, the blood vessels. In order for the white blood cells to fit and get to the battleground, the blood vessels have to expand in size, like a garden hose to a fire hose. This causes the puffiness, one of the cardinal signs of the battle. When the tissues get puffy, they pull away from the teeth causing yet another sign of inflammation, loss of function. One major function of the gums is to deflect food from the substructures. When there is inflammation, even a little, the gums do not hug the teeth anymore. Food is then able to wedge in the space instead of being deflected by the gums.
As the pathways expand, the little red blood cells say "Weeee!!!" And just like puppies and an open door, they flood through and run free. This causes 2 other signs which are redness and bleeding.
As the white blood cells and bacteria fight each other there is an aspect of all war, collateral damage. By-products like acids and enzymes from the bacteria and the white blood cells leak out into the surrounding tissue including teeth and gum tissues. As these byproducts are released it causes tenderness and soreness in our gums. It's a double edged sword to have our body defend itself. The damage done in our teeth and surrounding tissues cause cavities and periodontal disease. The tooth structure, bone and soft tissues dissolve and we see bone loss, gum loss or tooth structure loss which manifests as wobbly teeth and cavities in our teeth. Historically, teeth were lost because they would become loose and sometimes just fall out. Ever have a toothache from a cavity? They used to just yank the teeth that were shaky or painful. Not a very good idea from what we are seeing today. A short term fix, but there was little research to prevent and treat the source of the issue.
Now you know what causes the bleeding in our mouths. War. White blood cells and the military of our body is not infinite. If they are always triggered to fight the bacteria in our mouth, then how can they tend to things going on inside of our bodies?
Periodontal disease includes gingivitis and is what I call the silent disease. It doesn't hurt most of the time. Generally, it just smells and/or bleeds. It can feel tender at times and from what I observed it can also cause cold sensitivity. Who would've thought that this is a serious issue?
I connected the fact that if you don't take care of your teeth your health suffers several years ago prior to the current articles and research that is being released. There are several factors that play into what we need to do to clean our mouths such as salivary flow/components, diet, oral habits, and dental appliances. Each mouth is different, just like our personalities.
It may not be overnight. It may take decades to manifest. Just like building a wall, brick by brick the bacteria and plaque from our mouth enter into our system and eventually circulate in the blood. Historically, we contributed disease to our genetics or old age. One thing I discovered is our dietary habits and dental habits are also genetic. The foods and dental care our parents and people before them are passed down the generations. As I observed health histories of patients, I saw the incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer show up at 60-70 years of age. Then 50s, then 40s, then 30s and now I see high blood pressure and even arthritis in patients as young as in their 20s. This initiated my hunt for information as to why patients were afflicted with "old people" diseases and it all came back to the mouth.
Please don't be a victim to circumstances and understand that you can prevent or reduce diseases and ailments of our body.
Resource: webmd.com. Inflammation. https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/about-inflammation#091e9c5e800a707d-1-1