The Hidden Dangers of Bleeding Gums (Most People Do NOTHING!)

Why Bleeding Gums Matter 0:00

Could bleeding gums lead to serious health issues? Let's talk about this. I'm gonna talk all about what those bleeding gums really mean, what it's from, what it could mean for your overall health, and more importantly, what to do about it. First off, you know, when we're talking about oral health, we often think about things like cavities, right, or whitening. We want our teeth to look great, but sometimes we forget about the part that holds the teeth in the mouth, the gums. I like to think of this like the foundation of a house.

And if the foundation of the house is full of termites or water damage or other issues, everything that's built on top of that foundation is shaky and could be lost. The same thing goes for your gums. If your gums aren't healthy, even if your teeth are beautiful and healthy and sparkling white, You could actually lose them, which is devastating. So what are the first signs to pay attention to when we're talking about gum disease? The first thing that your gums will do is start to give you symptoms.

Those symptoms say, hey, sit up, pay attention. I am not completely healthy. And the first one you can notice is bleeding. Oftentimes, people will say, well, I just get a little bit of pink after I brush my teeth. The joke is pink in the sink, right? I just get a little bit of pink. It's not a big deal. Everybody gets that. Well, I'm going to tell you, not everybody gets that.

Signs of Gingivitis and Gum Disease 1:35

That's not normal. If your gums are bleeding when you're brushing, it means that they are inflamed. The literal tissues are weakened because the blood is high. It's right at the edge of those gum tissues because of inflammation. So it's easy to brush against it and have that start bleeding. If you have bleeding gums when you are brushing or flossing your teeth, something is wrong. Something is inflamed. That's the first warning sign. You also may notice a little bit of bad breath, sometimes a little bit of a sour or off taste in your mouth.

What's all that about? That is the bacteria basically making their home in those gums and starting to flourish. Those bacteria don't taste great. They don't smell great. Those are the first warning symptoms of what's called gingivitis. This is the first stage of gum disease. you need to pay attention because once those bacteria set up shop inside the gums, what they do is they start to harden. This is called tartar. So plaque mixes with minerals from your saliva, those minerals get hard. They stick on the teeth, more bacteria move in and the gums hate it.

So they start to pull away and move down the route. This is what we call gum recession. Now gum recession can also be from the way the teeth come together and a few other things, but oftentimes gum recession is due to infected gums, bacteria, plaque, and tartar on the teeth. The gums are pulling away, moving away, which is very dangerous because now These gums open up and literally it opens up a doorway or a pathway into the rest of the body, into the bloodstream. So bacteria that are living in those pockets are extremely dangerous.

How Gum Disease Affects the Whole Body 3:34

They love to go to brains. They love to go to hearts. They love to go to kidneys. They love to disrupt things like pregnancy. All sorts of systemic issues have been linked through research to this gum disease. So remember, it started kind of simply. You really didn't pay much attention to it. A little bit of blood in the sink, a little bit of tartar on my teeth that I'm noticing. But when that stays and it doesn't clear up, that's when the problems start to happen. One of the biggest things about health-based dentistry that differs from other kind of dentistry is that we really understand that the mouth is connected to the rest of you.

So when periodontal, which means basically gum disease, when it starts to flourish and take root in your gums, where do those bacteria go? Well, they love the brain and there's research connecting gum disease with an increased risk for Alzheimer's, something none of us want. They also really love hearts and vessels of all varieties. So there was a study that showed that the clot that actually killed people, clots and heart attacks, clots and strokes that killed people, 78% of them had mouth only bacteria in them, meaning the bugs here did the killing.

Another place that they love to go is lungs, worsening the chance of lung infection, but also asthma, bronchitis. All those sorts of lung and respiratory illnesses are worsened because of periodontal disease. Another one is pregnancy. It's an interesting thing, but there's research connecting low birth weight babies and pregnancy complications with mamas who have gum disease. So many different things relate. to this disease. It's just not worth it because this is something that's treatable. Not only can we fix it, but we can see it.

So we can see the symptoms right there in plain sight every single day. I have a patient that really was struggling with a lot of things with her health, but her big one was diabetes. She had type 2 diabetes, but just could not seem to keep her blood sugars in check. She was up and down, yo-yoing all the time. Her weight was out of control and she just felt terrible. She didn't know what to eat. She didn't know when to eat. It was really a nightmare. She came to my office as a new patient and what we found is that she had advanced gum disease.

This wasn't just a little pink in the sink. This was the serious full-blown infection. Well, we talked to her about it and said this is something that's very serious. She asked. Could it relate to all these other health problems I'm having? And we explained that gum disease creates a low-grade, never-ending inflammatory condition in the body.

A Diabetes Case Study and Gum Treatment 6:29

So the body's always inflamed. Well, really when you look at all the chronic diseases that we suffer from today in our world, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and on, they all have inflammation as their root. Inflammation is the really root cause for all of these things and periodontal disease leaves the body inflamed all the time. So he said well we can't promise anything but boy do we hope this will help you. So she had what we call gum treatment. What is that? What that is is we go and we clean off all of those tartar deposits, all of the bacteria we clean underneath the gums where they've all moved in and we disinfect everything and freshen everything up so the gums can reattach.

She went through this treatment. She also changed some things at home that I'm going to share with you. And after three months she came back and we checked with her again to see how the gums were doing. But she reported an incredible change in her blood sugar regulation. She said, I had no idea that it would be this easy to keep things under control. I had no idea that my gums could literally be making it impossible for me to control my diabetes. So her story is one we hear over and over and over again.

You get rid of this and it takes care of all sorts of other things. So what can you do at home first of all to prevent it but also to treat it? Let's start with the prevention side. What can you do to prevent gum disease from happening or from worsening? First off, it actually is important to visit your dentist. Why? Well, because we can look under those gums. We can see if there are things that you simply can't get off anymore. Tartar and bacteria and nooks and crannies that your toothbrush and floss can never get to.

So make sure you're visiting your dentist. The second thing is use the right products at home. Make sure you're using a tooth powder or toothpaste that doesn't have harsh chemicals, things that are going to actually harm your tissue. So I always recommend a hydroxyapatite tooth product.

At-Home Prevention and Oral Care Tips 8:43

If you haven't tried it, give my tooth powder a try at livingwellofdrmichelle.com. I think you're going to love it. And what you're going to find is not only does it help your teeth, but it helps your gums. Make sure to follow up that tooth cleaning with a mouthwash, but the right kind. Don't use a mouthwash with alcohol in it because it dries out your gums and helps bacteria to actually flourish. the exact opposite thing that you want. So check out my mouthwash. It has herbals in it, healing herbals, and that's what you want to look for.

The next thing that is really great if you have gum issues is oil pulling. It's a simple thing that's been around for thousands of years. You swish with a tablespoon of oil. I like coconut oil. For about 10 minutes, swish it in and out of your gums and your teeth everywhere, then spit it out of the tissue and throw it away because it's full of all sorts of bugs. it helps to balance the biome or the bacteria in the mouth. one other thing that you probably know to do is flossing. so make sure you're flossing with floss that is a natural fiber that's not going to add things like forever chemicals into your gums which further irritates them.

again check out my bamboo charcoal floss. the last thing that i love is tongue scraping. why? what does that have to do with gum disease? Well, the tongue could also harbor all sorts of bacteria. Make sure your tongue scraping and keeping that tongue clean. Those five things are essential for a healthy mouth to either return your mouth to health or to keep from ever having gum disease in the first place. What nutritionally can you do? Like I said, I believe we're connected head to toe. So vitamin C is the number one thing for gum disease.

Where can you find it? Well, you might know things like citrus fruits. That's a fabulous way to get it. Start every morning with a glass of warm water with the juice of a lemon in it. Fabulous way to get a dose of vitamin C. You can also get vitamin C in foods like bell peppers, broccoli, Spinach. There's all sorts of great foods that have a lot of this gum building vitamin C in them. Check them out. The next one is vitamin D3. Also very good for gum health, also good for inflammation, just taking care of that.

Where do you find D3? The best source is the sunshine, but not a lot of us get a lot of sunshine anymore. So often this is one that you need to supplement. Another thing you can add is CoQ10. This helps with inflammation and helps the gums to heal faster.

Nutrition and Supplements for Gum Health 11:16

This can be found in nuts and seeds. The last one I love is Omega-3 fatty acids. Again, just helps with cell health. Also can be found in things like walnuts and fatty fishes, but also supplements. These are all things that you can do to take charge of your health. And remember, bleeding gums, sore gums, gingivitis, any issues with gums, don't just stay put. They're going to go throughout your entire body and help here means help everywhere. So take charge of your gum health, which leads you to taking charge of your overall health.

If this sounds like something you could use some help with, make sure to check out a holistic dentist near you. If you don't have one, if you're in Utah, come to see us. We'd love to help you here. But if not, check out my directory at livingwellwithdrmichelle.com and find somebody who knows what to do to help you and support you and taking care of your overall health. Because if you're healthy and your mouth is healthy, you're going to live well.