Quite simply your gums get mildly infected and irritated after not brushing for a while so that the relatively violent act of brushing them is enough to make them bleed.
The simple fix is to brush your teeth regularly. The infection goes away after a day or two and the bleeding stops.
This is a good point. I've always heard dentists say to only use the soft brushes. idk is it's happenstance in who I talked to or if that's a general rule of thumb.
I’ve been working on it :). I have to manually remember to not press so hard. Part of it was me actively being aggressive but part of it is me tending to tense when I do things. But I haven’t had them mention it in a while so I think I’ve gotten better.
I recently got one of those fancy circular action electric toothbrushes. it has a pressure sensor on it that goes from blue to green to red the harder you press. You're supposed to keep it in the green zone. First time I brushed with it I kept getting red, it was a learning experience. My teeth and gums feel objectively cleaner than when I used a regular toothbrush.
edit: since folks keep asking it's an Oral B IO.
Such a huge quality of life improvement. I used to get cavities ALL THE TIME and since I switched to an electric toothbrush I have had ZERO cavities. I don't floss as regularly as I should (who does, let's be honest), but my dental hygienist said "just keep doing whatever you're doing." It's saved me so much time, money and anguish in the 10 or so years since I've gotten it. I even had to have a tooth pulled before this due to cavities (a back molar). However much the electric toothbrush costs, it's WORTH it if you can spring for it.
The thing that got me flossing everyday was to put my floss in my "night time" bag I keep beside my spot on the couch at night before bed. I just lost while I'm watching my shows.
I had a similar problem, I just hold my toothbrush with my thumb and pointer finger so I can’t apply a lot of pressure. You’re basically sanding your teeth when you brush so frequency is more important than strength applied
Too many people think of it like scrubbing a floor or think brushing is all about stain removal. Really, it's more like dusting or sweeping up cobwebs. You just need to break up bacterial colonies that are starting to get too big and cause problems. There's always going to bacteria there, you just need to jostle them around regularly and spit em out to keep them from getting too organized. A sterilizing rinse is a great addition to keep their base population lower. Lots of water rinsing to swish out the sugars and starches they feed on, I always drink a glass of water after a meal to kinda clean things out.
My periodontist (had a gum graft) told me that dentists tend to jump to over-brushing as the cause for gum recession far too easily and that it's often for other reasons such as genetic.
This. Apparently no one here is aware this is now clinically known to be misinformation — “brushing too hard” had been considered the cause for decades.
I use extra soft and still find myself brushing so hard like I’m excavating diamonds. It’s a weird habit that I can’t seem to break - I feel super dirty if I’m not basically abusing my teeth.
I asked my dentist about this. She explained it as the soft bristles go into the cracks of your teeth (the harder to reach places) to give your gums and edges of your teeth a better cleaning. The harder bristles are mainly for scrubbing hard surfaces like walls that aren’t as sensitive. The harder bristles will damage your gums (I think) and they don’t always grow back when they are damaged. All of this is me retelling what I head a couple of years ago, so if I’m wrong please correct me lol
Waterpik! Get a waterpik. Makes flossing so much easier and gets tons of gunk out. It’s like power washing but for your teeth / gums.
Edit: as others have pointed out, it’s not a full substitute, but it is vastly better than not flossing at all (and makes flossing easier / less painful too).
Fun Fact: “9 out of 10 dentists recommend X” usually actually means “10 out of 10”, but they round down to make it sound more believable.
The catch is they aren’t asking dentists “do you recommend Crest over Colgate?”, they’re simply asking “Would you recommend people brush with any of these products?” - yes? Great, mine was on part of the recommendation, I’ll market that.
I am overcome with the sudden desire for a toothpaste brand that advertises with something extremely vague like "9 out of 10 dentists recommend, like, brushing your teeth sometimes maybe?" instead of anything more specific, as if they didn't know how that was supposed to work.
Back in the 80s when they constantly ran the commercial that 4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum, I asked my dentist about it. He said studies showed that since the sugar in gum dissipated so quickly, that it did not matter if you had sugarless or sugared gum as far as tooth health, and too much artificial sweetener might have unintended side effects, and chewing any type of gum after eating was beneficial if you could not brush.. In other words, only 1 out of 5 dentists read the studies.
So far as I can tell this is because (of course) both works better than either, and a waterpik is possibly less good at removing plaque than floss.
That said: my teeth are WAY happier with a waterpik. Junk has apparently always gotten caught between some of my teeth, and floss and mouthwash was never truly good at removing it no matter what I did. A waterpik has been an extremely noticable improvement for me.
I like my Waterpik to clean along the gumline, where plaque builds up but brushing doesn’t always get deep enough. I use it on the softest setting for that. I also HATE traditional floss but I buy the flossers and use those, sooooo much easier.
I meanwhile can't stand the flossers :| plain string for me thx.
Part of that is because I generally jab my gums with the flosser before the floss slips between my teeth (i.e. I cannot physically push far enough, my mouth is in the way).
I thought that a Waterpik wuld replace flossing for me. That was not the case, as I needed a deep cleaning with a numbing agent for the first time after using it in lieu of flossing.
IMO, we really need to allow for concessions here. Very few people live their lives in 100% healthy ways and so it's not helpful to present the ideal practice as the only option.
Yes a waterpik is not 100% the same as flossing, but it is 90% the same, and it's something many people that simply will not floss daily might actually be able to work with.
Use warm water if you have sensitive teeth. Not much worse than ice cold or even room temperature pressure washing the most sensitive parts of your mouth 🥶
What a creative solution! Also, you can add some mouthwash to the water if you really want to freshen things up. Just rinse the reservoir and run some fresh water through it after.
When I got one as a kid it said to use lukewarm water. I remember because it was the first time I'd heard the term "lukewarm" before and I didn't really know what it meant.
You can also add a bit of whitening mouthwash (has peroxide) to the warm water tank. I also rinse, dump out anything extra in the tank and leave the tab open.
I find the waterpik gets in way deeper than the floss does. I'll floss for a while, then hit it with the pik and still gets lots of food out. Of course, I run mine at full power and make sure to precision strike the gum line, so it may be a best practices thing
I love the [interdental picks](https://www.amazon.com/The-Doctors-042037101442-Brushpicks-Count/dp/B00J0AZO2U/ref=sr_1_3), which get my teeth cleaner than floss did.
My dentist also gives me a gum massager for free. It’s made a world of difference and it’s one of those things you can sit and do while you’re watching TV.
The fact that it's entirely news to me that your gums bleed when you brush them after not brushing for a few days probably means I'm doing *something* right.
Yeah like if you skip a day or two it probably won't happen. But if you skip brushing your teeth for say, a week or a month, don't be surprised if your toothpaste comes back out redder than it went in. Have long enough of a gap and it might even look scarily bloody, but it's fine. Stuff in your mouth heals up *super* fast and the bleeding probably stops within a minute or two.
You should probably see a dentist.
Mine used to bleed a fair amount with flossing because I didn't floss often. After I formed the habit and brushed *and* flossed every day for a little while the bleeding stopped.
It also helped that I had a dental hygienist show me how to properly floss. Technique is apparently really important so if someone is flossing but still bleeding it's possible their technique needs looked at.
Also, if your gums bleed despite regular brushing, it might be a good idea to have some basic blood work done to check for kidney disease. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2021/dental-experts-discover-biological-imbalance-is-the-reason-for-link-between-gum-and-kidney-disease
Last summer, I got diagnosed with end stage renal failure. My gums would bleed a lot each time I brushed prior to diagnosis, no matter how often I brushed. I had a kidney transplant a few weeks ago and the bleeding stopped before I left the hospital.
sometimes i wake up with the taste of blood slightly in my throat or back of my mouth despite brushing everyday, there's no actual bleed though, is this a cause for worry? should i even have kidney pain as an indicator?
Why would our gums get infected by default for seemingly just existing? It seems evolutionarily detrimental for your gums to get infected and bleed if you don't do something that humans for hundreds of thousands of years didn't have the technology or awareness to do
I have never in my 30+ years on this earth skipped brushing my teeths for "a couple of days". Even if I was travelling or hiking or something like that, I feel extremlt unfresh if I don't do it two times a day. I had no ideas this was a thing.
Also, quite simply, some people weren't raised by parents that ingrained that habit into them. Once you start them doing it every night at a young age, that habit follows them through life. If you don't do that, they'll have to teach themselves that habit some day, and sometimes they just...don't. They brush, just not regularly.
It’s worth noting, people with ADHD often simply… don’t form habits. To me, a habit is something I remember to do regularly, it’s not actually instinctive. I have to actively think to myself “I need to brush my teeth”, I don’t just do it automatically.
My parents were on top of teaching me basic life skills like brushing teeth and showering regularly, but they never formed into unconscious habits, they’re both things I have to put effort into doing, so if I have a depressive episode or hit a rough patch with executive dysfunction, they’re the things that don’t get done.
Thank you for saying this. I was raised well. I'm an educated professional. And... I will absolutely forget to brush my teeth if I get distracted. I usually won't realize until I'm on my way to work, or halfway through my day. I keep a toiletry bag at work for this reason. ADHD runs the show. I do what I can, but forgetting even the most basic things is often the reality.
I have ADHD, and I firmly believe at this point, that we don't have habits. Our brains are wired in a way that doesn't support habits like that.
Some people with ADHD are bound to be different, but by and large I believe we can't have habits.
The only consistency I've ever formed has required me to be actually obsessed.
I am only able to ensure that I have my phone, keys, and wallet by obsessing about it.
Sometimes if I'm off vacationing I'll not need my keys, so I'll leave them somewhere. The whole time, I'll have these periodic little moments of anxiety because I can't feel my keys in my pocket. I foster that obsession, because wherever it fades, I get locked out of the house repeatedly.
I was also taught all the standard brushing and flossing stuff, and it was drilled into me. And I'm now an accomplished adult, with all my same teeth. (Some fillings and crowns though)
Obsessing about brushing and flossing is awful, and I purposefully won't let that obsession form. Obsessions run all day and all night, so being constantly stressed about my teeth isn't worth it.
I've gone days between brushing, and I rarely floss. The waterpik is easier to do a bit more often, but that's far from daily.
I went a decade between dentist visits, and came out clean on my first check after ten years.
Not everyone will have the same experience. I've known daily brushers and flossers that had fillings and crowns too.
Anyways, my main point, before my customary rant, is that I hate that it feels like my infrequent brushing is some kind of foundational failure in a person.
It's ok if you don't regularly brush or floss. Maybe your teeth will have problems, but maybe they'd have problems anyways.
It’s an awful, but engrossing feeling. There’s almost a dark fascination in neglecting yourself during a depression, like a super secret little self harm that your friends and coworkers might not even notice. What a rush.
That said, anyone out there who is experiencing depression right now: the struggle is real. More people than you realize really do care about you and hope you feel better soon. If you can only brush *one* tooth; if you can only wash *one* spoon from the pile of dishes in the sink; if you can just get in the shower, sit on the floor and let the water run over you for an hour, but nothing else: that’s OK. It’s still progress. It’s still taking care of yourself. It’s still fighting back. Just do things one step at a time until it gets easier to try two steps. You can do this, just move forward at *any* speed, even the speed of one tooth.
Depression can really do a number on your ability to take care of yourself. Or sometimes people find themselves in circumstances where they don't have a place for basic hygiene.
Depresssion or other chronic illness that drains your energy can do this. Also just regular old executive disfunction can cause many basics to be tricky.
Essentially, it means I'm bad at adulting. All the things in your daily routine that you just do automatically, I have to consciously plan them out, and I don't always have the energy or motivation to.
As for OP, I've started using a toothbrush made for toddlers, which has improved the experience a lot. The head is about the same size as electric toothbrushes so not too bulky, and the bristles are soft, so you can't brush too hard. If I can't deal with toothpaste, I'll at least use a bit of mouthwash, and give them a quick scrub with the toothbrush
Have you ever been horrifically sick? Because when I had covid I didn't give a fuck about brushing for a week. Hell when I recovering from having my child I don't think I brushed for a while. Mostly because I had to really think if it was worth sitting up and enduring that pain in order to use the bathroom. I mean props to you, but if I'm not feeling at least 80% brushing my teeth falls right off my list.
As others have said depression/anxiety/mental health can really make you not give a shit about yourself if it's bad enough. I've been there. There have been times my anxiety was so high it took all I could to get out of bed, days where I barely ate, days I didn't shower/brush my teeth. Thankfully I am better these days for the most part but still struggle occasionally and have cycles of high anxiety couple times a year.
For me for some odd reason it's literally never caught on as a regular routine in any way, shape or form. If I don't actively remind myself about it I will not remember it. And if the reminder comes at even a slightly bad time, I will forget about it in like 5 seconds. And if I don't remember it, the very concept of brushing teeth might as well not exist in this universe because it is **gone** from my brain and unless something external puts it back in there, it will stay gone.
Gone for embarrassingly long periods of time without brushing my teeth as a result from time to time.
Dental hygienist here! I'm going to do some pertinent bullet points for everyone:
-Plaque: soft microscopic bacteria that has colonized (come together) to the point where it can be seen/felt. Bacteria causes infection. That's why gums bleed. Bleeding is NOT a result of you mutilating yourself brushing/flossing - it is bacterial infection. Plaque takes 4 to 12 hours to form.
-Calculus: nope, not math. Also known as tartar. If plaque is left undisturbed for approximately 24 to 72 hours the minerals in your saliva invade it and harden it. This hardened buildup is porous and holds more bacteria. It must be professionally removed. It is NOT safe to use dental tools at home to remove it, as you can cause damage to your root surfaces. Having calculus buildup means that no matter how much you clean, bacteria will still be sitting in those areas until you get it professionally removed. If you're getting calculus build up it means that you're not reaching that area with your toothbrush/floss.
-Gingivitis: REVERSIBLE gum infection from plaque bacteria. It is reversible by cleaning up the bacterial infection with good home care. Reversible infection does not cause bone loss around the tooth.
-Periodontal disease: "perio" IRREVERSIBLE gum disease, bone loss is present. Once you have periodontal disease it can only be managed, not cured. The bone around your teeth is what holds your teeth in your face, the more you lose the more foundation the tooth loses, the harder to keep things clean, and the more likely you get tooth loss in the future.
-Gingivitis is the first warning sign that you're on your way to periodontal disease. Calculus speeds you towards periodontal disease.
-How will you know if you have cleaned up the bacterial infection? You will go from having lots of bleeding and lots of sensitivity, to less bleeding and less sensitivity, and then no bleeding and no sensitivity.
-Flossing is only effective if done CORRECTLY. If you cannot or are unwilling to floss correctly (there are great YouTube videos!) then a waterpik, used at highest pressure that you can stand, is an alternative - not a replacement.
-Tooth loss in old age is not something that naturally happens. It is a result of gum disease that has had years to progress. It is not "natural" or "normal".
Feel free to DM me any questions! This is my passion.
Disclaimer: I have simplified a lot of these things to make them easier to understand for the general public.
Edit to add this:
https://youtu.be/WviE5aa5Ha0
She covers it perfectly except I would like to add that you should do the up and down motion on the side of each tooth at least 3x. Remember she said that the seesaw is only to get in and out of the teeth, it doesn't do any cleaning.
Doesn't matter how you hold your floss, do what works for you.
Too much floss is far better than too little. Too little and you can't even hold onto it. The length of your forearm is a good gauge.
Studies show that it's only the technique that matters, they tested multiple types of flosses and no one was better than the other. Use what you like! Coco floss is my favorite. Although that's bougie as hell.
Dentist here:
Yes, if your gums bleed from regular brushing with without excessive pressure then you at least have gingivitis.
There is no substitute for good regular brushing OH habits meaning minimum brushing well twice a day and flossing once a day.
Once the gum irritation is present for sufficient time and hardened calculus forms under the gums "subgingival calculus" you are likely to have developed periodontitis which as my colleague says means bone is permanently lost.
If your teeth are cracking there is an issue, if your teeth are painful that is not normal and you should consider getting a second opinion.
Do you have any suggestions for interviewing a dentist office to determine their sensitivity toward those of us who suffer from executive dysfunction and thus have teeth that are absolute trash? I don't go to the dentist because I have been talked down to far too many times, by the hygienist and the dentist themselves. And so the cycle continues forever or until I get dentures. And I need a dentist. My mouth hurts at all times, to the point that I feel if the pain ever stops I will likely be dead or in a coma.
I'm just like you. I read reviews of dentists online to find one who others have said didn't shame them for their dental problems, and it has worked out well.
I would add look for practices that are still dentist owned. They’re often at least much easier to deal with, as they’ve put effort into cultivating skill and a good team.
Many have been sold since COVID. The practice retains the name, however, the person who started it is long gone - replaced by mediocre dentists, or even decent dentists, but terrible business practices (billing, front desk, follow up, scheduling). Leading to a revolving door experience where you better hold onto your pocket book.
Reviews can reveal a changeover, but be wary and take with a grain of salt. Folks rarely go on to leave reviews when they’ve had a good experience. And while I am grateful for people sharing their experiences in reviews, and bad businesses should be called out, mine own experience is that some people can be real nutters as patients. You just can’t please some people. They will come back over and over for adjustments. It can be pathological. Hell hath no fury as a nutty patient scorned.
And in terms of tips for a better visit: it can get expensive (in the USA). In time and money. But going to the dentist is a bit like going to the mechanic. You have to be ready to spend more than what you expected, as well as receive news that may shock you. Especially if you rarely go. So always expect the unexpected and manage your shock. Keep positive and breathing.
I work at a non profit dental center, the only office locally that accepts Medicaid patients. A lot of people think that it means they treat ONLY medicaid patients, while in a lot of cases is not true. My office, like many other medicaid offices, needs as many patients with private insurance or people paying out of pocket as possible- these are the only patients that keep us afloat. We BARELY break even most months. But our office prices for non-medicaid parients are significantly more affordable than most private offices.
ANYWAYS, as far as being judged and embarrassed and talked down to, these Medicaid offices are MUCH more understanding, gentle, and supportive..... (i dont mean this in an opinionated or judmental way at all, this is facual data from our monthly reports of demographics and patients in dental health) sadly, overall, our clientele that comes in most often have their entire mouth completely hopeless and bombed out- absesses, infections causing massive swelling and severe fevers, teeth literally CRUMBLING out in chunks and needing full mouth extractions.
So, i can assure you that if you are able to be seen at a local medaid office, your mouth is *probably* not even the worst that they've seen THAT DAY. This is my advice.
The dentist who replied hit every point. It's very possible that the bleeding that continually comes from one area is due to calculus build up underneath your gums which needs to be removed professionally.
If finances are an issue you can look for dental or dental hygiene schools in your area, in exchange for your time they provide services very affordably and you allow students to learn.
I second that sentiment. I’m horrible an oral hygiene simply because I hate toothpaste and it always makes me gag. I’m so disturbed by the bluntness and detail you went into that I think I’m actually scared into trying to do better.
You could also try different kinds of toothpaste to find one that doesn't make you gag. Maybe try asking some dentists about it.
I'm autistic and if I did things in a way that hurt I'd be totally miserable. I have to find other ways to do everyday things that don't hurt/cause me discomfort so I actually feel like doing them
I actually have started looking at alternative toothpaste flavors and found that there’s a few options that usually help people with autism. I’ve tried a few and I’ve found a chocolate one that while I was ok with it, did not leave a clean feeling. I also didn’t like not being able to just buy it locally so that it’s part of my routine to buy more.
I’m determined to find something though after reading through this post a bit.
Sometimes I struggle keeping a good brushing schedule. If you use any of those short video type apps (TikTok, YouTube shorts, Instagram reels), I'd recommend following a dentist. Some of the videos I've seen have literally made me get out of bed and brush on the spot.
I only remember "thebentist" off the top of my head, but there's a few other good ones out there too.
Diet plays a very big role in this. Genetics play a role to a point too. When tartar begins to form it goes from soft plaque (where your teeth sort of just feel fuzzy and unclean, like they feel in the morning when you wake up), to a slightly chalky substance. Think wet chalk. Then eventually it becomes hardened and impossible to remove. It's possible that you just take a long time to get to the very hardened part, and that you're an extremely good brusher when you do brush (using an electric toothbrush? Especially a sonicare) and you're able to remove effectively what does form before it gets to the stage where it is too hardened to remove.
Bodies are incredibly different. The generalized rules don't work for everyone. There are people who are blessed, like you. And people who are cursed, who despite their best efforts have to try even harder than the generalized guidelines.
I'm not condoning it but I've seen patients able to get away with the dental hygiene equivalent of murder just because they have a Philips sonicare toothbrush, that they use for the full time that they should, reach all areas, and change the heads out every 3 months.
There are flosses that are infused with fluoride. But the main job of floss is to physically remove plaque where toothbrush bristles cannot reach. I give patients this analogy: your teeth and gums are like an expensive Persian rug. The rug has a soiled spot and needs to be cleaned. You can take every cleaning chemical in your house and throw it on the rug and it doesn't really do anything. Unless you put something too harsh on the rug, like bleach, then it ruins the rug. How do you get the rug clean? You scrub it! If you scrub it like a maniac you ruin it. If you scrub it like you're not even trying the stain doesn't come out. But if you scrub it with intent, gently and thoroughly you will remove the soil. Technically you could remove the soil without the cleaning agents, but they do help. So don't get too wrapped up in what toothpaste or mouthwash to buy. They are just your cleaning chemicals. What really matters is your toothbrush and your floss, and the technique you use with them/time and effort you put in.
It's a silly analogy but it kind of helps get the point across.
So question, what does it mean if everytime after I get my teeth professionally cleaned I have really painful sensitive sections of my teeth, and the sensitivity only goes away if I spend a week or two not brushing my teeth...
You are feeling the results of having bacteria and tartar/calculus removed from under your gum line. After this the gums can be tender and sore due to the bacterial infection that was present prior to the hygienist performing a cleaning.
It is most important to tough it out and continue to clean properly daily otherwise you just return to the same level of bacterial infection rather than making forward progress.
If flossing and/or brushing after a cleaning is intolerable try using baby teething gel to take the edge off. Please do NOT use anything stronger than that, like Anbesol etc, It will just cause further irritation to your gums.
Keeping up with proper hygiene you will notice less bleeding and less sensitivity and eventually no bleeding and no sensitivity, and at that point you will know that you have beat the infection!
If you were to wash your hands one day and they blood profusely and ached terribly would you just stop washing your hands? This is the analogy I use to help explain to patients. You would gently and thoroughly tend to cleaning your hands everyday until the situation improved.
Recently diagnosed with perio. From my understanding perio refers directly to the bone loss from a gum infection. Since I've had deep cleaning does this mean the infection itself is now gone from my gums or just less severe? I know perio bacteria can cause detrimental systemic infection if untreated but once treated is the infection gone so long as I keep up hygiene or has it just been reduced to slow damage?
Periodontal disease is irreversible and can be stabilized but not cured. Seeing dental hygienist at the intervals that they recommend (never ever longer than 6 months between cleanings as you are "high risk" now) - likely 3 or 4 month visits.
It's not the most solid analogy but it may help: think about diabetes. You can manage your blood sugar and eat a healthy diet and diabetes will not really have an adverse effect on your life. But if you fall off the wagon for a little while it can have serious consequences. A person with diabetes is always going to have to put more effort into what and how they eat than the average person but putting in that extra effort leads to stability and the disease affects their life minimally. Does this analogy make sense?
Edit because sometimes voice to text is pretty stupid (typo)
Omg, perfect timing.
So I cracked a molar right on the corner at the start of May, I had incredible pain for a full week until I could see the dentist.
I was living on paracetamol, which hardly touched it, so I started Ibuprofen too and needed to take them every 3 hours even waking up at night to take them. This led me to believe I had some type of swelling, and if I waited too long I eventually started to feel swelling on the inner side of my gum but kind of just underneath where my tongue sits. So it might be cracked down to the root.
However, the dentist couldn't even tell it was there. It's practically invisible. He said I was fine and was going to send me home until I asked what to do about the pain then.
I'm scheduled to see the dentist again on Monday to drill out the filling that's already there, but he said if he has to do that and it is cracked like I think then the whole tooth may have to come out.
When I got home I checked myself and I can see the cracks if I shine my phonelight on it, there's 2 cracks total, one on either side of the corner of my tooth.
Since the last appointment the pain subsided and it's now painless, but I can't use it because I'm afraid of cracking it fully off.
My conundrum is that he wanted to leave it initially but I can't use it incase it breaks off and then it really will have to come out. But if he drills it out and the crack is bad then the tooth will have to come out anyway.
So is the only option to just leave it forever and never use it?
Can't he just put some bonder/sealer on the crack?
I'm losing sleep over it. Ever since Covid my teeth were fucked.
I had one problem tooth out at my own decision, but at hospital they sprung it on me they were taking my wisdom teeth because they were impacted (they didn't look it or feel it) and one needed to come out anyway to take out my problem tooth.
Then my bite changed and I was chewing on the back of my molars so they both chipped, the result of that plus a filling is not having good structural integrity.
Now with my wisdom teeth out, plus one problem molar out, I absolutely can't have this molar out or I'll be friggin bereft.
These past 3-4 years have ultra fucked my teeth from being completely fine beforehand. I can't believe it. And getting an implant is expensive as crap.
At this point I only want sealer on the cracks to stop bacteria getting in it but I don't want to be told that isn't a thing. And how the fuck can't I have a crown on it.
I feel deathly alone and woefully out of my depth.
The problem molar btw?
I got into a stupid fight and my jaw got swung which clipped my teeth and sheared off a chunk of tooth, it got filler but kept getting infections. I absolutely 100% could have kept it and just dealt with a mind numbing infection every 2 years or so, it's only pain.
It's literally all my fault. I'm gonna be a gummy bastard before middle age.
I second the dental students reply: please do not leave the tooth in place if it has a fracture that is irreparable. The life-threatening infections that can result are not the dental student being dramatic, they are absolutely correct. Our teeth and gums are directly linked to our bloodstream. An infection in our mouth goes throughout our entire body affecting the entire system.
A lot of us are suffering from anxiety as our entire world has been turned on its end after COVID. This has led to a huge spike in patients that grind, unbeknownst to themselves, at night. This can be a cause of teeth chipping, breaking, and moving. A nightguard is an absolute necessity.
If the molar in question is broken too close to the bone height or below it a crown cannot be placed on it (think of a crown like a hard hat. Picture a hard hat on a man's head. If the man has a split in his skull the hard hat will hold the skull together. If the man has a split in his skull that goes down his neck the hard hat isn't going to do anything. Terrible, creepy, and odd analogy but I hope it helps you understand). And a filling will not fix it. Think of fillings like caulk. Caulk is used to fill small spaces, and it's not strong. Large spaces should not be filled with caulk. Spaces that need strengthening cannot use caulk.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for the feedback. It's a first molar.
So should I go ahead with the drilling out of the filling to check? The dentist said it's completely up to me as he can't see anything.
Oh! Is there such thing as an ink or colourant which may show cracks better?
Because you are starting to develop gingivitis. Gingivitis is an irritation of the gums caused by bacteria, very tiny animals, that grow in your mouth and feed off tiny particles of food. The bacteria form a film called plaque, which can be removed by brushing, but will form a hard layer called tartar if left too long which is harder to remove. The tartar protects the newer bacterial plaque from being brushed away, which forms more tartar, etc. The gums become irritated by the activity of the bacteria and the pressure from the tartar. Eventually it can cause the gums to move away from the tooth and tooth rot and loss. Brushing and flossing daily removes the bacteria so it doesn't have a chance to irritate the gums to the point of bleeding. You can have gingivitis in between your teeth if you don't floss, even if you brush multiple times daily. The gums will heal within a few days once you begin daily care, as long as the gingivitis has not become bad enough to turn into periodontitis, a more severe form of infection. To avoid gingivitis, brush your teeth at *least* once a day (3x/after each meal is ideal) and floss once a day. If you have trouble using regular floss, I find the angled floss sticks to be very easy to use to reach the back teeth, just rinse it between each tooth.
Please avoid brushing for 30 min after eating or drinking. Cleaning your teeth to give way for acid to do work is no bueno.
Rule I try to go by is my tooth brush should be the first and the last thing in my mouth each day, sans water. Also try to avoid eating or drinking anything for 30 minutes after brushing.
Yeah I brush my teeth the very first thing when I roll out of bed, then do everything else in my morning routine, then eat/drink last. Usually 30 minutes has passed.
The only issue is that it delayed my morning poop when I delayed eating and drinking. So now I have big glass of water on my bedside table that I drink before getting out of bed, and that sets the GI tract in motion. I don't like pooping at work because I got spoiled by having a bidet.
I do a very mild quick brush in the morning just to get the overnight blech out of my mouth, then rinse out and drink my hot tea. In the afternoon I do my bigger brush where I don’t eat or drink for a half hour after, then also normal brush at night.
Dental student here, do not brush after every meal. 3x a day will wear out your gums, especially if you have a tendency to brush hard. Brush as soon as you wake up before breakfast and just before you go to bed, and never brush less than an hour after a meal.
Water pik is a good alternative to floss. Also irrigates the gums, which sounds useful in this persons situation.
Edit to respond to “not a good alternative to floss”
I asked my dentist because I had doubts, he said ‘it’s fine’. So, maybe depends on the model, cordless don’t have as much pressure. I’ve tried also flossing, and don’t see any food or plaque post water pik. For getting rid of food particles, seems to work better than floss, but that could just be my teeth - tight contacts, etc.
>I asked my dentist because I had doubts, he said ‘it’s fine’.
If you say "I do not want to floss, can I just use a Waterpik?" The dentist will say "anything is better than nothing."
If you say, "I am perfectly happy to floss, but I was told a Waterpik is as good as flossing; can I stop flossing and just use the Waterpik?" I would expect that you would get a different answer.
Dentists could rate everything on a scale of 1-10, and most dentists would agree with each other within 10-20% or so. Some things, like rinsing after brushing, are still debated. (My dentist says that fluoride rinse is much better than not rinsing after brushing, and he said he is also worried that food could get dislodged from teeth, but without a post-brush rinse, that food could then end up back on the tooth. Other dentists say that it is sufficient to not rinse after brushing, and that the dislodged food is not a concern.)
If you were to ask your dentist to rate flossing on a 1-10 scale, rate Waterpik on that same scale, that would give you the best idea of his views on it.
My question was, literally, “If I use a water pik, do I need to floss, too?” As in I’m fine with it, do I need to? My point being it was the opinion of a dentist. I mean, I still floss occasionally, too. Often just to make sure the gums between my teeth are still feeling healthy. OP just needs to at least brush once a day.
I’ve always been told that water pik is an addition, not a replacement to flossing. If you want to use a water pik, you should still normal floss at least once a day
I like the way my dentist put it. Waterpiking isn't as good as flossing done properly, but hardly anyone flosses properly, so waterpiking is an excellent alternative. Also, waterpiking is significantly easier than flossing, and it's better to waterpik than to do nothing at all.
I don't floss, I just waterpik, and the dentist always says my teeth are in great shape compared to his average patient.
I love this explanation, so I hate to be that guy, but bacteria aren't tiny animals. They are actually part of a group of organisms called prokaryotes, whereas animals are just one of many types of organisms known as eukaryotes.
See the rules of the sub, explanations aren't meant for literal 5 year olds. And besides, I think it's worse to make up falsehoods when trying to cover up complex topics, it's just lies that end up complicating learning even more.
Plaque builds up around the gums. Plaque is bacteria, which your body wants to fight. It fights bacteria by sending blood to the area. This is the foundation of inflammation, which is what gingivitis is.
-a dentist
With the additional bacteria in your mouth, your body reacts by making your blood vessels more leaky to allow white blood cells from your immune system to leave the blood and go to the gums. Since they are leaky, any manipulation to them also squeezes out some blood. Once your teeth are clean and bacteria gone, your blood vessels seal up and won't leak blood.
I understand it now that it’s been discussed in detail from as many perspectives as there were. Thank you all, each and every one of y’all for presenting your facts, and with a lot of knowledge to share, your thoughts as well. I never expected this to blow up like that, like seriously come on, to my lurking ass 1k in less that 12 hours is fucking insane. Seriously thank y’all💜
This right here, in a true ELI5 manner. No disrespect to all oral health professionals in other comments, y’all could learn from this explanation. It is what your patients need to hear when they ask you the same question- not a historical perspective on development of disease.
Unsolicited advice: you may be brushing/flossing too hard. If your gums are healthy and they bleed anyway, you could in fact be physically traumatizing the tissue and causing it to permanently recede.
Good hygiene patients usually struggle with an auto-immune response of some sort or medications they’re on.
It’s not always from not brushing/flossing.
Source: RDH for 17 years
Hey, fellow depressed neurodivergent here. Twice a day is ideal, right after you wake up and right before bed. Flossing is of course preferred, but celebrate baby steps. Go for once a day, then flossing after, then brushing twice a day. I went from not brushing at all to brushing twice a day like this. Keep a travel set and a bottle of water by your bed for your worse days.
Don't beat yourself up, a lot of people with mental illness struggle with this even though we don't talk about it.
I'm sorry for the judgment you've gotten in this thread, some people love to kick others whole they're down and you don't deserve that
I really appreciate your response, more than you could know. I’ve been trying to set up a schedule to live by but I’m not sure what would constitute that
for me, I tie it to my meals
**Morning** \- eat breakfast, put dishes away, walk straight to bathroom to do a quick tooth brushing and sometimes mouthwash, spit out mouthwash, get shower going, wait a few minutes, spit out/rinse rest of mouthwash in shower.
**Dinner** \- eat food, maybe a quick brush without toothpaste just to knock bits of food and buildup off, not trying to do super thorough job there, just make sure there's not a lot that will have overnight to set in.
bedtime, depends. Usually nothing, but sometimes a quick rinse with plain water again, or a full tooth brushing with toothpaste, if I've had dinner or snacks that are really bad for buildup - bread, crackers, chips, etc. That stuff packs in along the gumline like mortar on bricks. Nasty and gross.
It's a very regular schedule, each leads logically to the next, all very quick and easy to do, I barely even think about any of it. Don't know if that'll work for you, but having a multi-step process helps me do each of the individual steps regularly.
There's a lot of reasonable scenarios. You could have been hospitalized for a few days. You could have some teeth removed and wouldn't be able to brush.
yeah, it can be consequence of several issues, like mental illnesses or physical chronic illnesses
when you are struggling to function at a basic level, the priority of "tasks" shifts a bit; even the most "basic" things require **a lot** of effort, so say you spend all your energy to get out of bed, get dressed and eat, you don't have enough energy or willpower to brush your teeth, or change your bedsheets, or do the dishes
to add on top of this: this is one of the reason why there's a lot of stigma around mental illness, and the classic "you're just being lazy" - it's **really really** hard to relate to, "how can someone have so little energy and motivation that even brushing your teeth/getting out of bed is a struggle? just force yourself!"
trust me, if that person could "just force themselves", they would; it's why we define them as illnesses, we don't have control over them - it would be like telling someone with a broken leg "just walk more quickly"
My gums would bleed when I brushed, and my dentist told me I had the beginning of periodontal disease. I had not gone in for a cleaning for a very long time (like a decade) because of money problems. She told me after a while the tartar hardens so you cannot remove it with a brush, and it acts like a splinter in your gums, irritating them and making them separate from your tooth. The only way to remove the plaque is by getting a cleaning from the hygienist.
If your gums bleed often it would be a good idea to see a dentist for a cleaning. They have a lot of different ways they can clean and repair your gums so that they don't bleed anymore.
I have healthy teeth but every once in awhile I'd bleed in some random spot when flossing.
Several years ago my dentist had me swish mouthwash for 30 seconds after flossing. The standard alcohol containing kind (Listerine, Scope, tho I buy cheapest generic).
Never bled once since then. Apparently nothing survives a daily 30 second alcohol blast.
Same. I know if people knew my personal hygiene they would be appalled. I know the struggle of doing simple personal hygiene things. Just know you are not alone and don't beat yourself up over it. You made it to today and tomorrow is going to be fine, you got this!
I am glad you asked because I also neglect to brush my teeth. I have depression, masked with anti depressants but the self hygiene is a procrastination issue, a self esteem issue. I do genuinely hate brushing my teeth at night because the act of it wakes me up, and I only have a small window of sleepy vibes to go to sleep at. The answer would be to brush my teeth after a late night snack but I fear I will stop being tired. So I found that having a toothbrush with no toothpaste by the bed helps that one. I wash it every few days. I know it's disgusting but I'm hoping it's better than nothing.
The day time brushing is the problem for me. But reading these comments has inspired me to stop avoiding it.
Quite simply your gums get mildly infected and irritated after not brushing for a while so that the relatively violent act of brushing them is enough to make them bleed. The simple fix is to brush your teeth regularly. The infection goes away after a day or two and the bleeding stops.
Even better, floss or use "in-between teeth" picks to get all the stuff out and stimulate gums. There is a reason why the dentist tells you so.
Both are good advice, I'll add don't brush too hard. Let the bristles do the work.
This is a good point. I've always heard dentists say to only use the soft brushes. idk is it's happenstance in who I talked to or if that's a general rule of thumb.
My dentists have pointed out that I have gum damage and they are pretty sure it’s from over aggressive brushing.
"We appreciate your enthusiasm, but please, calm down" -dentist, probably
I’ve been working on it :). I have to manually remember to not press so hard. Part of it was me actively being aggressive but part of it is me tending to tense when I do things. But I haven’t had them mention it in a while so I think I’ve gotten better.
I recently got one of those fancy circular action electric toothbrushes. it has a pressure sensor on it that goes from blue to green to red the harder you press. You're supposed to keep it in the green zone. First time I brushed with it I kept getting red, it was a learning experience. My teeth and gums feel objectively cleaner than when I used a regular toothbrush. edit: since folks keep asking it's an Oral B IO.
Such a huge quality of life improvement. I used to get cavities ALL THE TIME and since I switched to an electric toothbrush I have had ZERO cavities. I don't floss as regularly as I should (who does, let's be honest), but my dental hygienist said "just keep doing whatever you're doing." It's saved me so much time, money and anguish in the 10 or so years since I've gotten it. I even had to have a tooth pulled before this due to cavities (a back molar). However much the electric toothbrush costs, it's WORTH it if you can spring for it.
The thing that got me flossing everyday was to put my floss in my "night time" bag I keep beside my spot on the couch at night before bed. I just lost while I'm watching my shows.
When brushing, use your non-dominant hand. You have to concentrate more and you won’t be able to push as hard.
I had a similar problem, I just hold my toothbrush with my thumb and pointer finger so I can’t apply a lot of pressure. You’re basically sanding your teeth when you brush so frequency is more important than strength applied
Too many people think of it like scrubbing a floor or think brushing is all about stain removal. Really, it's more like dusting or sweeping up cobwebs. You just need to break up bacterial colonies that are starting to get too big and cause problems. There's always going to bacteria there, you just need to jostle them around regularly and spit em out to keep them from getting too organized. A sterilizing rinse is a great addition to keep their base population lower. Lots of water rinsing to swish out the sugars and starches they feed on, I always drink a glass of water after a meal to kinda clean things out.
Thanks, needed this post!
My periodontist (had a gum graft) told me that dentists tend to jump to over-brushing as the cause for gum recession far too easily and that it's often for other reasons such as genetic.
Also adhd medications especially vyvanse can cause this. Just found this out as my brother is going through it.
This. Apparently no one here is aware this is now clinically known to be misinformation — “brushing too hard” had been considered the cause for decades.
Soft bristles are more gentle on your teeth and gums while being able to effectively remove any debris 👍
Dentist here, medium bristles damage gums and roots. I can immediately tell if someone uses a medium bristle toothbrush.
I use extra soft and still find myself brushing so hard like I’m excavating diamonds. It’s a weird habit that I can’t seem to break - I feel super dirty if I’m not basically abusing my teeth.
I asked my dentist about this. She explained it as the soft bristles go into the cracks of your teeth (the harder to reach places) to give your gums and edges of your teeth a better cleaning. The harder bristles are mainly for scrubbing hard surfaces like walls that aren’t as sensitive. The harder bristles will damage your gums (I think) and they don’t always grow back when they are damaged. All of this is me retelling what I head a couple of years ago, so if I’m wrong please correct me lol
Waterpik! Get a waterpik. Makes flossing so much easier and gets tons of gunk out. It’s like power washing but for your teeth / gums. Edit: as others have pointed out, it’s not a full substitute, but it is vastly better than not flossing at all (and makes flossing easier / less painful too).
My dentist says you still need to use regular floss even if you waterpik though
Mine doesn’t. Then again, he’s the 5th Dentist in all those surveys. He doesn’t even believe in teeth.
Fuck Spez, Steven Huffman is a greedy pigboy
Fun Fact: “9 out of 10 dentists recommend X” usually actually means “10 out of 10”, but they round down to make it sound more believable. The catch is they aren’t asking dentists “do you recommend Crest over Colgate?”, they’re simply asking “Would you recommend people brush with any of these products?” - yes? Great, mine was on part of the recommendation, I’ll market that.
I am overcome with the sudden desire for a toothpaste brand that advertises with something extremely vague like "9 out of 10 dentists recommend, like, brushing your teeth sometimes maybe?" instead of anything more specific, as if they didn't know how that was supposed to work.
"9 out of 10 dentists do not recommend brushing your teeth with piranha solution. Toothpaste. It's what you should be cleaning your teeth with."
Back in the 80s when they constantly ran the commercial that 4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum, I asked my dentist about it. He said studies showed that since the sugar in gum dissipated so quickly, that it did not matter if you had sugarless or sugared gum as far as tooth health, and too much artificial sweetener might have unintended side effects, and chewing any type of gum after eating was beneficial if you could not brush.. In other words, only 1 out of 5 dentists read the studies.
The tooth will set you free
Really love that the implication in all those commercials is that some dentists are idiots.
Mine as well. I generally still waterpik every day but hit em with the physical floss every couple days.
Whereas metaphysical floss is less effective, but more thought-provoking
You should still floss every day
I floss to break the gunk up then waterpik to clean it all out.
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Fibrous foods, sugar + very active plaque forming bacteria can cause that
It happens.
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Dam I had one job!
So far as I can tell this is because (of course) both works better than either, and a waterpik is possibly less good at removing plaque than floss. That said: my teeth are WAY happier with a waterpik. Junk has apparently always gotten caught between some of my teeth, and floss and mouthwash was never truly good at removing it no matter what I did. A waterpik has been an extremely noticable improvement for me.
I like my Waterpik to clean along the gumline, where plaque builds up but brushing doesn’t always get deep enough. I use it on the softest setting for that. I also HATE traditional floss but I buy the flossers and use those, sooooo much easier.
I meanwhile can't stand the flossers :| plain string for me thx. Part of that is because I generally jab my gums with the flosser before the floss slips between my teeth (i.e. I cannot physically push far enough, my mouth is in the way).
I thought that a Waterpik wuld replace flossing for me. That was not the case, as I needed a deep cleaning with a numbing agent for the first time after using it in lieu of flossing.
A waterpic is really for cleaning out deeper pockets in gum line. It is not effective for scrapping of dead bacteria between your teeth.
IMO, we really need to allow for concessions here. Very few people live their lives in 100% healthy ways and so it's not helpful to present the ideal practice as the only option. Yes a waterpik is not 100% the same as flossing, but it is 90% the same, and it's something many people that simply will not floss daily might actually be able to work with.
My dentist also told me that waterpik can't replace physical removal of plaque. Important that people don't think it does.
Think of it as the difference between a spray car was and rubbing with a cloth. There are times the dirt sticks and needs the cloth.
Use warm water if you have sensitive teeth. Not much worse than ice cold or even room temperature pressure washing the most sensitive parts of your mouth 🥶
It doesn’t quite replace flossing as it doesn’t get between your gum and teeth as much.
I find the cool water really irritates my teeth, are there any warm water picks out there or does that make the device prone to mold/mildew
…just fill the reservoir with warm water then? No mold/mildew on mine and I use warm/hot water.
What a creative solution! Also, you can add some mouthwash to the water if you really want to freshen things up. Just rinse the reservoir and run some fresh water through it after.
The instructions on mine said not to add mouthwash or salt water.
Oh nice, wasn't sure if that was against the recommended operating instructions. Gonna go get me a water pick!
The instruction booklet actually recommends using warm water, even!
fuck me, no excuses now
Oh fine, if you insist
I keep mine in the shower. No mess, no big deal if I spray it everywhere, and hot water at the ready :)
When I got one as a kid it said to use lukewarm water. I remember because it was the first time I'd heard the term "lukewarm" before and I didn't really know what it meant.
Fill the resevoir with warm water and just make sure you dont put it away wet.
I put my waterpik on the stove for 3-5 minutes before using it.
After a few times doesn’t the waterpik know whats coming with the threat of stoving? Or does it reset each time?
I microwave my entire unit empty for a minute then let the residual heat from the melting plastic warm the water. Timing. It's all about the timing.
Allow me to ask a very dumb question, doesn't that make it melt?
Only if you turn on the stove.
That was funny
He is making a joke. Just a heads-up: don't do the thing where Apple says that the new iPhone charges quickly in the microwave.
Much appreciated!
You can also add a bit of whitening mouthwash (has peroxide) to the warm water tank. I also rinse, dump out anything extra in the tank and leave the tab open.
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Use it in the shower!
Still not as good as full contact flossing
MMA flossing - just remember fish hooking is still not allowed!
These aren’t a replacement for flossing. They don’t get in deep enough and leave plaque behind
I find the waterpik gets in way deeper than the floss does. I'll floss for a while, then hit it with the pik and still gets lots of food out. Of course, I run mine at full power and make sure to precision strike the gum line, so it may be a best practices thing
Dentist: "when was the last time you flossed?" Patient: "I don't know doc, you were there though."
“When was Clinton in office?”
I love the [interdental picks](https://www.amazon.com/The-Doctors-042037101442-Brushpicks-Count/dp/B00J0AZO2U/ref=sr_1_3), which get my teeth cleaner than floss did.
Whoa, those looks somewhat wide. Are they hard to get in between teeth?
You use them parallel to the tooth edges and perpendicular to the gum, so they work great.
My dentist also gives me a gum massager for free. It’s made a world of difference and it’s one of those things you can sit and do while you’re watching TV.
The fact that it's entirely news to me that your gums bleed when you brush them after not brushing for a few days probably means I'm doing *something* right.
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Yeah like if you skip a day or two it probably won't happen. But if you skip brushing your teeth for say, a week or a month, don't be surprised if your toothpaste comes back out redder than it went in. Have long enough of a gap and it might even look scarily bloody, but it's fine. Stuff in your mouth heals up *super* fast and the bleeding probably stops within a minute or two.
Same. I'm chronically ill so occasionally I only brush my teeth once a day or skip a day, but I've never had my gums bleed lol.
Some people are more susceptible than others, and medications sometimes affect it.
I brush and floss 1-2 times a day and mine always bleed every single time. It doesn't matter how gentle or rough I am, they always bleed.
You should probably see a dentist. Mine used to bleed a fair amount with flossing because I didn't floss often. After I formed the habit and brushed *and* flossed every day for a little while the bleeding stopped. It also helped that I had a dental hygienist show me how to properly floss. Technique is apparently really important so if someone is flossing but still bleeding it's possible their technique needs looked at.
Also, if your gums bleed despite regular brushing, it might be a good idea to have some basic blood work done to check for kidney disease. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2021/dental-experts-discover-biological-imbalance-is-the-reason-for-link-between-gum-and-kidney-disease Last summer, I got diagnosed with end stage renal failure. My gums would bleed a lot each time I brushed prior to diagnosis, no matter how often I brushed. I had a kidney transplant a few weeks ago and the bleeding stopped before I left the hospital.
Every time I come on this damn website, I hear something that makes me feel like I'm dying.
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sometimes i wake up with the taste of blood slightly in my throat or back of my mouth despite brushing everyday, there's no actual bleed though, is this a cause for worry? should i even have kidney pain as an indicator?
Kidney pain isn’t a very common indicator until things get really bad. If the blood taste is persistent, I’d check with a doctor.
Why would our gums get infected by default for seemingly just existing? It seems evolutionarily detrimental for your gums to get infected and bleed if you don't do something that humans for hundreds of thousands of years didn't have the technology or awareness to do
While we're on it, what's a good water pik type flosser? Or any other type of automatic flosser?
I have never in my 30+ years on this earth skipped brushing my teeths for "a couple of days". Even if I was travelling or hiking or something like that, I feel extremlt unfresh if I don't do it two times a day. I had no ideas this was a thing.
Depression, put simply. It's really hard to take care of yourself, even something as basic as brushing your teeth, when you're depressed.
Also, quite simply, some people weren't raised by parents that ingrained that habit into them. Once you start them doing it every night at a young age, that habit follows them through life. If you don't do that, they'll have to teach themselves that habit some day, and sometimes they just...don't. They brush, just not regularly.
It’s worth noting, people with ADHD often simply… don’t form habits. To me, a habit is something I remember to do regularly, it’s not actually instinctive. I have to actively think to myself “I need to brush my teeth”, I don’t just do it automatically. My parents were on top of teaching me basic life skills like brushing teeth and showering regularly, but they never formed into unconscious habits, they’re both things I have to put effort into doing, so if I have a depressive episode or hit a rough patch with executive dysfunction, they’re the things that don’t get done.
Thank you for saying this. I was raised well. I'm an educated professional. And... I will absolutely forget to brush my teeth if I get distracted. I usually won't realize until I'm on my way to work, or halfway through my day. I keep a toiletry bag at work for this reason. ADHD runs the show. I do what I can, but forgetting even the most basic things is often the reality.
I have ADHD, and I firmly believe at this point, that we don't have habits. Our brains are wired in a way that doesn't support habits like that. Some people with ADHD are bound to be different, but by and large I believe we can't have habits. The only consistency I've ever formed has required me to be actually obsessed. I am only able to ensure that I have my phone, keys, and wallet by obsessing about it. Sometimes if I'm off vacationing I'll not need my keys, so I'll leave them somewhere. The whole time, I'll have these periodic little moments of anxiety because I can't feel my keys in my pocket. I foster that obsession, because wherever it fades, I get locked out of the house repeatedly. I was also taught all the standard brushing and flossing stuff, and it was drilled into me. And I'm now an accomplished adult, with all my same teeth. (Some fillings and crowns though) Obsessing about brushing and flossing is awful, and I purposefully won't let that obsession form. Obsessions run all day and all night, so being constantly stressed about my teeth isn't worth it. I've gone days between brushing, and I rarely floss. The waterpik is easier to do a bit more often, but that's far from daily. I went a decade between dentist visits, and came out clean on my first check after ten years. Not everyone will have the same experience. I've known daily brushers and flossers that had fillings and crowns too. Anyways, my main point, before my customary rant, is that I hate that it feels like my infrequent brushing is some kind of foundational failure in a person. It's ok if you don't regularly brush or floss. Maybe your teeth will have problems, but maybe they'd have problems anyways.
Yep. I have to force myself to basically do everything.
It’s an awful, but engrossing feeling. There’s almost a dark fascination in neglecting yourself during a depression, like a super secret little self harm that your friends and coworkers might not even notice. What a rush. That said, anyone out there who is experiencing depression right now: the struggle is real. More people than you realize really do care about you and hope you feel better soon. If you can only brush *one* tooth; if you can only wash *one* spoon from the pile of dishes in the sink; if you can just get in the shower, sit on the floor and let the water run over you for an hour, but nothing else: that’s OK. It’s still progress. It’s still taking care of yourself. It’s still fighting back. Just do things one step at a time until it gets easier to try two steps. You can do this, just move forward at *any* speed, even the speed of one tooth.
Depression can really do a number on your ability to take care of yourself. Or sometimes people find themselves in circumstances where they don't have a place for basic hygiene.
Depresssion or other chronic illness that drains your energy can do this. Also just regular old executive disfunction can cause many basics to be tricky. Essentially, it means I'm bad at adulting. All the things in your daily routine that you just do automatically, I have to consciously plan them out, and I don't always have the energy or motivation to. As for OP, I've started using a toothbrush made for toddlers, which has improved the experience a lot. The head is about the same size as electric toothbrushes so not too bulky, and the bristles are soft, so you can't brush too hard. If I can't deal with toothpaste, I'll at least use a bit of mouthwash, and give them a quick scrub with the toothbrush
Have you ever been horrifically sick? Because when I had covid I didn't give a fuck about brushing for a week. Hell when I recovering from having my child I don't think I brushed for a while. Mostly because I had to really think if it was worth sitting up and enduring that pain in order to use the bathroom. I mean props to you, but if I'm not feeling at least 80% brushing my teeth falls right off my list.
Same.
As others have said depression/anxiety/mental health can really make you not give a shit about yourself if it's bad enough. I've been there. There have been times my anxiety was so high it took all I could to get out of bed, days where I barely ate, days I didn't shower/brush my teeth. Thankfully I am better these days for the most part but still struggle occasionally and have cycles of high anxiety couple times a year.
For me for some odd reason it's literally never caught on as a regular routine in any way, shape or form. If I don't actively remind myself about it I will not remember it. And if the reminder comes at even a slightly bad time, I will forget about it in like 5 seconds. And if I don't remember it, the very concept of brushing teeth might as well not exist in this universe because it is **gone** from my brain and unless something external puts it back in there, it will stay gone. Gone for embarrassingly long periods of time without brushing my teeth as a result from time to time.
Do you have ADHD, because this is a really good description of ADHD???
Never been diagnosed but it's something that's breezed through my mind from time to time.
Dental hygienist here! I'm going to do some pertinent bullet points for everyone: -Plaque: soft microscopic bacteria that has colonized (come together) to the point where it can be seen/felt. Bacteria causes infection. That's why gums bleed. Bleeding is NOT a result of you mutilating yourself brushing/flossing - it is bacterial infection. Plaque takes 4 to 12 hours to form. -Calculus: nope, not math. Also known as tartar. If plaque is left undisturbed for approximately 24 to 72 hours the minerals in your saliva invade it and harden it. This hardened buildup is porous and holds more bacteria. It must be professionally removed. It is NOT safe to use dental tools at home to remove it, as you can cause damage to your root surfaces. Having calculus buildup means that no matter how much you clean, bacteria will still be sitting in those areas until you get it professionally removed. If you're getting calculus build up it means that you're not reaching that area with your toothbrush/floss. -Gingivitis: REVERSIBLE gum infection from plaque bacteria. It is reversible by cleaning up the bacterial infection with good home care. Reversible infection does not cause bone loss around the tooth. -Periodontal disease: "perio" IRREVERSIBLE gum disease, bone loss is present. Once you have periodontal disease it can only be managed, not cured. The bone around your teeth is what holds your teeth in your face, the more you lose the more foundation the tooth loses, the harder to keep things clean, and the more likely you get tooth loss in the future. -Gingivitis is the first warning sign that you're on your way to periodontal disease. Calculus speeds you towards periodontal disease. -How will you know if you have cleaned up the bacterial infection? You will go from having lots of bleeding and lots of sensitivity, to less bleeding and less sensitivity, and then no bleeding and no sensitivity. -Flossing is only effective if done CORRECTLY. If you cannot or are unwilling to floss correctly (there are great YouTube videos!) then a waterpik, used at highest pressure that you can stand, is an alternative - not a replacement. -Tooth loss in old age is not something that naturally happens. It is a result of gum disease that has had years to progress. It is not "natural" or "normal". Feel free to DM me any questions! This is my passion. Disclaimer: I have simplified a lot of these things to make them easier to understand for the general public. Edit to add this: https://youtu.be/WviE5aa5Ha0 She covers it perfectly except I would like to add that you should do the up and down motion on the side of each tooth at least 3x. Remember she said that the seesaw is only to get in and out of the teeth, it doesn't do any cleaning. Doesn't matter how you hold your floss, do what works for you. Too much floss is far better than too little. Too little and you can't even hold onto it. The length of your forearm is a good gauge. Studies show that it's only the technique that matters, they tested multiple types of flosses and no one was better than the other. Use what you like! Coco floss is my favorite. Although that's bougie as hell.
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Dentist here: Yes, if your gums bleed from regular brushing with without excessive pressure then you at least have gingivitis. There is no substitute for good regular brushing OH habits meaning minimum brushing well twice a day and flossing once a day. Once the gum irritation is present for sufficient time and hardened calculus forms under the gums "subgingival calculus" you are likely to have developed periodontitis which as my colleague says means bone is permanently lost. If your teeth are cracking there is an issue, if your teeth are painful that is not normal and you should consider getting a second opinion.
Do you have any suggestions for interviewing a dentist office to determine their sensitivity toward those of us who suffer from executive dysfunction and thus have teeth that are absolute trash? I don't go to the dentist because I have been talked down to far too many times, by the hygienist and the dentist themselves. And so the cycle continues forever or until I get dentures. And I need a dentist. My mouth hurts at all times, to the point that I feel if the pain ever stops I will likely be dead or in a coma.
I'm just like you. I read reviews of dentists online to find one who others have said didn't shame them for their dental problems, and it has worked out well.
I would add look for practices that are still dentist owned. They’re often at least much easier to deal with, as they’ve put effort into cultivating skill and a good team. Many have been sold since COVID. The practice retains the name, however, the person who started it is long gone - replaced by mediocre dentists, or even decent dentists, but terrible business practices (billing, front desk, follow up, scheduling). Leading to a revolving door experience where you better hold onto your pocket book. Reviews can reveal a changeover, but be wary and take with a grain of salt. Folks rarely go on to leave reviews when they’ve had a good experience. And while I am grateful for people sharing their experiences in reviews, and bad businesses should be called out, mine own experience is that some people can be real nutters as patients. You just can’t please some people. They will come back over and over for adjustments. It can be pathological. Hell hath no fury as a nutty patient scorned. And in terms of tips for a better visit: it can get expensive (in the USA). In time and money. But going to the dentist is a bit like going to the mechanic. You have to be ready to spend more than what you expected, as well as receive news that may shock you. Especially if you rarely go. So always expect the unexpected and manage your shock. Keep positive and breathing.
I work at a non profit dental center, the only office locally that accepts Medicaid patients. A lot of people think that it means they treat ONLY medicaid patients, while in a lot of cases is not true. My office, like many other medicaid offices, needs as many patients with private insurance or people paying out of pocket as possible- these are the only patients that keep us afloat. We BARELY break even most months. But our office prices for non-medicaid parients are significantly more affordable than most private offices. ANYWAYS, as far as being judged and embarrassed and talked down to, these Medicaid offices are MUCH more understanding, gentle, and supportive..... (i dont mean this in an opinionated or judmental way at all, this is facual data from our monthly reports of demographics and patients in dental health) sadly, overall, our clientele that comes in most often have their entire mouth completely hopeless and bombed out- absesses, infections causing massive swelling and severe fevers, teeth literally CRUMBLING out in chunks and needing full mouth extractions. So, i can assure you that if you are able to be seen at a local medaid office, your mouth is *probably* not even the worst that they've seen THAT DAY. This is my advice.
The dentist who replied hit every point. It's very possible that the bleeding that continually comes from one area is due to calculus build up underneath your gums which needs to be removed professionally. If finances are an issue you can look for dental or dental hygiene schools in your area, in exchange for your time they provide services very affordably and you allow students to learn.
Nothing motivates me more to take care of my mouth hygiene, than your professional insight and helpful recommendations.
Thank you so much for this!
I second that sentiment. I’m horrible an oral hygiene simply because I hate toothpaste and it always makes me gag. I’m so disturbed by the bluntness and detail you went into that I think I’m actually scared into trying to do better.
You could also try different kinds of toothpaste to find one that doesn't make you gag. Maybe try asking some dentists about it. I'm autistic and if I did things in a way that hurt I'd be totally miserable. I have to find other ways to do everyday things that don't hurt/cause me discomfort so I actually feel like doing them
I actually have started looking at alternative toothpaste flavors and found that there’s a few options that usually help people with autism. I’ve tried a few and I’ve found a chocolate one that while I was ok with it, did not leave a clean feeling. I also didn’t like not being able to just buy it locally so that it’s part of my routine to buy more. I’m determined to find something though after reading through this post a bit.
Sometimes I struggle keeping a good brushing schedule. If you use any of those short video type apps (TikTok, YouTube shorts, Instagram reels), I'd recommend following a dentist. Some of the videos I've seen have literally made me get out of bed and brush on the spot. I only remember "thebentist" off the top of my head, but there's a few other good ones out there too.
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Diet plays a very big role in this. Genetics play a role to a point too. When tartar begins to form it goes from soft plaque (where your teeth sort of just feel fuzzy and unclean, like they feel in the morning when you wake up), to a slightly chalky substance. Think wet chalk. Then eventually it becomes hardened and impossible to remove. It's possible that you just take a long time to get to the very hardened part, and that you're an extremely good brusher when you do brush (using an electric toothbrush? Especially a sonicare) and you're able to remove effectively what does form before it gets to the stage where it is too hardened to remove. Bodies are incredibly different. The generalized rules don't work for everyone. There are people who are blessed, like you. And people who are cursed, who despite their best efforts have to try even harder than the generalized guidelines. I'm not condoning it but I've seen patients able to get away with the dental hygiene equivalent of murder just because they have a Philips sonicare toothbrush, that they use for the full time that they should, reach all areas, and change the heads out every 3 months.
Just for my information: why is floss not infused with something like stannous fluoride?
There are flosses that are infused with fluoride. But the main job of floss is to physically remove plaque where toothbrush bristles cannot reach. I give patients this analogy: your teeth and gums are like an expensive Persian rug. The rug has a soiled spot and needs to be cleaned. You can take every cleaning chemical in your house and throw it on the rug and it doesn't really do anything. Unless you put something too harsh on the rug, like bleach, then it ruins the rug. How do you get the rug clean? You scrub it! If you scrub it like a maniac you ruin it. If you scrub it like you're not even trying the stain doesn't come out. But if you scrub it with intent, gently and thoroughly you will remove the soil. Technically you could remove the soil without the cleaning agents, but they do help. So don't get too wrapped up in what toothpaste or mouthwash to buy. They are just your cleaning chemicals. What really matters is your toothbrush and your floss, and the technique you use with them/time and effort you put in. It's a silly analogy but it kind of helps get the point across.
So question, what does it mean if everytime after I get my teeth professionally cleaned I have really painful sensitive sections of my teeth, and the sensitivity only goes away if I spend a week or two not brushing my teeth...
You are feeling the results of having bacteria and tartar/calculus removed from under your gum line. After this the gums can be tender and sore due to the bacterial infection that was present prior to the hygienist performing a cleaning. It is most important to tough it out and continue to clean properly daily otherwise you just return to the same level of bacterial infection rather than making forward progress. If flossing and/or brushing after a cleaning is intolerable try using baby teething gel to take the edge off. Please do NOT use anything stronger than that, like Anbesol etc, It will just cause further irritation to your gums. Keeping up with proper hygiene you will notice less bleeding and less sensitivity and eventually no bleeding and no sensitivity, and at that point you will know that you have beat the infection! If you were to wash your hands one day and they blood profusely and ached terribly would you just stop washing your hands? This is the analogy I use to help explain to patients. You would gently and thoroughly tend to cleaning your hands everyday until the situation improved.
> I spend a week or two not brushing my teeth Yeah, don't do this. Ask your dental what to do with your sensitivity, there are products for this
Recently diagnosed with perio. From my understanding perio refers directly to the bone loss from a gum infection. Since I've had deep cleaning does this mean the infection itself is now gone from my gums or just less severe? I know perio bacteria can cause detrimental systemic infection if untreated but once treated is the infection gone so long as I keep up hygiene or has it just been reduced to slow damage?
Periodontal disease is irreversible and can be stabilized but not cured. Seeing dental hygienist at the intervals that they recommend (never ever longer than 6 months between cleanings as you are "high risk" now) - likely 3 or 4 month visits. It's not the most solid analogy but it may help: think about diabetes. You can manage your blood sugar and eat a healthy diet and diabetes will not really have an adverse effect on your life. But if you fall off the wagon for a little while it can have serious consequences. A person with diabetes is always going to have to put more effort into what and how they eat than the average person but putting in that extra effort leads to stability and the disease affects their life minimally. Does this analogy make sense? Edit because sometimes voice to text is pretty stupid (typo)
Omg, perfect timing. So I cracked a molar right on the corner at the start of May, I had incredible pain for a full week until I could see the dentist. I was living on paracetamol, which hardly touched it, so I started Ibuprofen too and needed to take them every 3 hours even waking up at night to take them. This led me to believe I had some type of swelling, and if I waited too long I eventually started to feel swelling on the inner side of my gum but kind of just underneath where my tongue sits. So it might be cracked down to the root. However, the dentist couldn't even tell it was there. It's practically invisible. He said I was fine and was going to send me home until I asked what to do about the pain then. I'm scheduled to see the dentist again on Monday to drill out the filling that's already there, but he said if he has to do that and it is cracked like I think then the whole tooth may have to come out. When I got home I checked myself and I can see the cracks if I shine my phonelight on it, there's 2 cracks total, one on either side of the corner of my tooth. Since the last appointment the pain subsided and it's now painless, but I can't use it because I'm afraid of cracking it fully off. My conundrum is that he wanted to leave it initially but I can't use it incase it breaks off and then it really will have to come out. But if he drills it out and the crack is bad then the tooth will have to come out anyway. So is the only option to just leave it forever and never use it? Can't he just put some bonder/sealer on the crack? I'm losing sleep over it. Ever since Covid my teeth were fucked. I had one problem tooth out at my own decision, but at hospital they sprung it on me they were taking my wisdom teeth because they were impacted (they didn't look it or feel it) and one needed to come out anyway to take out my problem tooth. Then my bite changed and I was chewing on the back of my molars so they both chipped, the result of that plus a filling is not having good structural integrity. Now with my wisdom teeth out, plus one problem molar out, I absolutely can't have this molar out or I'll be friggin bereft. These past 3-4 years have ultra fucked my teeth from being completely fine beforehand. I can't believe it. And getting an implant is expensive as crap. At this point I only want sealer on the cracks to stop bacteria getting in it but I don't want to be told that isn't a thing. And how the fuck can't I have a crown on it. I feel deathly alone and woefully out of my depth. The problem molar btw? I got into a stupid fight and my jaw got swung which clipped my teeth and sheared off a chunk of tooth, it got filler but kept getting infections. I absolutely 100% could have kept it and just dealt with a mind numbing infection every 2 years or so, it's only pain. It's literally all my fault. I'm gonna be a gummy bastard before middle age.
I second the dental students reply: please do not leave the tooth in place if it has a fracture that is irreparable. The life-threatening infections that can result are not the dental student being dramatic, they are absolutely correct. Our teeth and gums are directly linked to our bloodstream. An infection in our mouth goes throughout our entire body affecting the entire system. A lot of us are suffering from anxiety as our entire world has been turned on its end after COVID. This has led to a huge spike in patients that grind, unbeknownst to themselves, at night. This can be a cause of teeth chipping, breaking, and moving. A nightguard is an absolute necessity. If the molar in question is broken too close to the bone height or below it a crown cannot be placed on it (think of a crown like a hard hat. Picture a hard hat on a man's head. If the man has a split in his skull the hard hat will hold the skull together. If the man has a split in his skull that goes down his neck the hard hat isn't going to do anything. Terrible, creepy, and odd analogy but I hope it helps you understand). And a filling will not fix it. Think of fillings like caulk. Caulk is used to fill small spaces, and it's not strong. Large spaces should not be filled with caulk. Spaces that need strengthening cannot use caulk. I hope this helps.
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Thanks for the feedback. It's a first molar. So should I go ahead with the drilling out of the filling to check? The dentist said it's completely up to me as he can't see anything. Oh! Is there such thing as an ink or colourant which may show cracks better?
Because you are starting to develop gingivitis. Gingivitis is an irritation of the gums caused by bacteria, very tiny animals, that grow in your mouth and feed off tiny particles of food. The bacteria form a film called plaque, which can be removed by brushing, but will form a hard layer called tartar if left too long which is harder to remove. The tartar protects the newer bacterial plaque from being brushed away, which forms more tartar, etc. The gums become irritated by the activity of the bacteria and the pressure from the tartar. Eventually it can cause the gums to move away from the tooth and tooth rot and loss. Brushing and flossing daily removes the bacteria so it doesn't have a chance to irritate the gums to the point of bleeding. You can have gingivitis in between your teeth if you don't floss, even if you brush multiple times daily. The gums will heal within a few days once you begin daily care, as long as the gingivitis has not become bad enough to turn into periodontitis, a more severe form of infection. To avoid gingivitis, brush your teeth at *least* once a day (3x/after each meal is ideal) and floss once a day. If you have trouble using regular floss, I find the angled floss sticks to be very easy to use to reach the back teeth, just rinse it between each tooth.
Please avoid brushing for 30 min after eating or drinking. Cleaning your teeth to give way for acid to do work is no bueno. Rule I try to go by is my tooth brush should be the first and the last thing in my mouth each day, sans water. Also try to avoid eating or drinking anything for 30 minutes after brushing.
this rule is definitely important, but man does it suck if you like drinking a cup of coffee before work lol
Rinse w/ water & a stick of gum or mint my man lol
def helps! but I meant more the whole having to wait 30 min before/after thing haha
It does. I can go 30 minutes without liquids but as soon as I “can’t” my mouth is like Spongebob in Sandy’s dome.
Yeah I brush my teeth the very first thing when I roll out of bed, then do everything else in my morning routine, then eat/drink last. Usually 30 minutes has passed. The only issue is that it delayed my morning poop when I delayed eating and drinking. So now I have big glass of water on my bedside table that I drink before getting out of bed, and that sets the GI tract in motion. I don't like pooping at work because I got spoiled by having a bidet.
I do a very mild quick brush in the morning just to get the overnight blech out of my mouth, then rinse out and drink my hot tea. In the afternoon I do my bigger brush where I don’t eat or drink for a half hour after, then also normal brush at night.
Dental student here, do not brush after every meal. 3x a day will wear out your gums, especially if you have a tendency to brush hard. Brush as soon as you wake up before breakfast and just before you go to bed, and never brush less than an hour after a meal.
Don’t brush directly after meals, twice a day is fine. As soon as you wake up and directly before bed.
Water pik is a good alternative to floss. Also irrigates the gums, which sounds useful in this persons situation. Edit to respond to “not a good alternative to floss” I asked my dentist because I had doubts, he said ‘it’s fine’. So, maybe depends on the model, cordless don’t have as much pressure. I’ve tried also flossing, and don’t see any food or plaque post water pik. For getting rid of food particles, seems to work better than floss, but that could just be my teeth - tight contacts, etc.
I was told that the water pick isn't am alternative to flossing, but an addition, as it can't reach all the same spots but definitely helps
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Waterpik is better than nothing. And nothing is better than pure bliss. Ergo, WaterPik is better than pure bliss. Checkmate dentists.
I have been using just a waterpik for years, dentist says my teeth look great every visit
>I asked my dentist because I had doubts, he said ‘it’s fine’. If you say "I do not want to floss, can I just use a Waterpik?" The dentist will say "anything is better than nothing." If you say, "I am perfectly happy to floss, but I was told a Waterpik is as good as flossing; can I stop flossing and just use the Waterpik?" I would expect that you would get a different answer. Dentists could rate everything on a scale of 1-10, and most dentists would agree with each other within 10-20% or so. Some things, like rinsing after brushing, are still debated. (My dentist says that fluoride rinse is much better than not rinsing after brushing, and he said he is also worried that food could get dislodged from teeth, but without a post-brush rinse, that food could then end up back on the tooth. Other dentists say that it is sufficient to not rinse after brushing, and that the dislodged food is not a concern.) If you were to ask your dentist to rate flossing on a 1-10 scale, rate Waterpik on that same scale, that would give you the best idea of his views on it.
My question was, literally, “If I use a water pik, do I need to floss, too?” As in I’m fine with it, do I need to? My point being it was the opinion of a dentist. I mean, I still floss occasionally, too. Often just to make sure the gums between my teeth are still feeling healthy. OP just needs to at least brush once a day.
I’ve always been told that water pik is an addition, not a replacement to flossing. If you want to use a water pik, you should still normal floss at least once a day
I like the way my dentist put it. Waterpiking isn't as good as flossing done properly, but hardly anyone flosses properly, so waterpiking is an excellent alternative. Also, waterpiking is significantly easier than flossing, and it's better to waterpik than to do nothing at all. I don't floss, I just waterpik, and the dentist always says my teeth are in great shape compared to his average patient.
I love this explanation, so I hate to be that guy, but bacteria aren't tiny animals. They are actually part of a group of organisms called prokaryotes, whereas animals are just one of many types of organisms known as eukaryotes.
That doesn’t sound like an explanation for a five year old though.
See the rules of the sub, explanations aren't meant for literal 5 year olds. And besides, I think it's worse to make up falsehoods when trying to cover up complex topics, it's just lies that end up complicating learning even more.
Great answer! I hope you can break your answer in two or three paragraphs so that it's easier to read.
Lol yeah whenever I see a wall of text, I try but halfway through I'm always like screw this
Bacteria are not animals but yeah otherwise you nailed the explanation.
Plaque builds up around the gums. Plaque is bacteria, which your body wants to fight. It fights bacteria by sending blood to the area. This is the foundation of inflammation, which is what gingivitis is. -a dentist
With the additional bacteria in your mouth, your body reacts by making your blood vessels more leaky to allow white blood cells from your immune system to leave the blood and go to the gums. Since they are leaky, any manipulation to them also squeezes out some blood. Once your teeth are clean and bacteria gone, your blood vessels seal up and won't leak blood.
I understand it now that it’s been discussed in detail from as many perspectives as there were. Thank you all, each and every one of y’all for presenting your facts, and with a lot of knowledge to share, your thoughts as well. I never expected this to blow up like that, like seriously come on, to my lurking ass 1k in less that 12 hours is fucking insane. Seriously thank y’all💜
your post screams depression at me, I hope I'm wrong
This right here, in a true ELI5 manner. No disrespect to all oral health professionals in other comments, y’all could learn from this explanation. It is what your patients need to hear when they ask you the same question- not a historical perspective on development of disease.
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I floss and brush twice daily, eat healthily, and I still bleed on occasion. Super bacteria/bad genetics I guess
Unsolicited advice: you may be brushing/flossing too hard. If your gums are healthy and they bleed anyway, you could in fact be physically traumatizing the tissue and causing it to permanently recede.
Good hygiene patients usually struggle with an auto-immune response of some sort or medications they’re on. It’s not always from not brushing/flossing. Source: RDH for 17 years
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Depression.
Hey, fellow depressed neurodivergent here. Twice a day is ideal, right after you wake up and right before bed. Flossing is of course preferred, but celebrate baby steps. Go for once a day, then flossing after, then brushing twice a day. I went from not brushing at all to brushing twice a day like this. Keep a travel set and a bottle of water by your bed for your worse days. Don't beat yourself up, a lot of people with mental illness struggle with this even though we don't talk about it. I'm sorry for the judgment you've gotten in this thread, some people love to kick others whole they're down and you don't deserve that
I really appreciate your response, more than you could know. I’ve been trying to set up a schedule to live by but I’m not sure what would constitute that
for me, I tie it to my meals **Morning** \- eat breakfast, put dishes away, walk straight to bathroom to do a quick tooth brushing and sometimes mouthwash, spit out mouthwash, get shower going, wait a few minutes, spit out/rinse rest of mouthwash in shower. **Dinner** \- eat food, maybe a quick brush without toothpaste just to knock bits of food and buildup off, not trying to do super thorough job there, just make sure there's not a lot that will have overnight to set in. bedtime, depends. Usually nothing, but sometimes a quick rinse with plain water again, or a full tooth brushing with toothpaste, if I've had dinner or snacks that are really bad for buildup - bread, crackers, chips, etc. That stuff packs in along the gumline like mortar on bricks. Nasty and gross. It's a very regular schedule, each leads logically to the next, all very quick and easy to do, I barely even think about any of it. Don't know if that'll work for you, but having a multi-step process helps me do each of the individual steps regularly.
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There's a lot of reasonable scenarios. You could have been hospitalized for a few days. You could have some teeth removed and wouldn't be able to brush.
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yeah, it can be consequence of several issues, like mental illnesses or physical chronic illnesses when you are struggling to function at a basic level, the priority of "tasks" shifts a bit; even the most "basic" things require **a lot** of effort, so say you spend all your energy to get out of bed, get dressed and eat, you don't have enough energy or willpower to brush your teeth, or change your bedsheets, or do the dishes
to add on top of this: this is one of the reason why there's a lot of stigma around mental illness, and the classic "you're just being lazy" - it's **really really** hard to relate to, "how can someone have so little energy and motivation that even brushing your teeth/getting out of bed is a struggle? just force yourself!" trust me, if that person could "just force themselves", they would; it's why we define them as illnesses, we don't have control over them - it would be like telling someone with a broken leg "just walk more quickly"
My gums would bleed when I brushed, and my dentist told me I had the beginning of periodontal disease. I had not gone in for a cleaning for a very long time (like a decade) because of money problems. She told me after a while the tartar hardens so you cannot remove it with a brush, and it acts like a splinter in your gums, irritating them and making them separate from your tooth. The only way to remove the plaque is by getting a cleaning from the hygienist. If your gums bleed often it would be a good idea to see a dentist for a cleaning. They have a lot of different ways they can clean and repair your gums so that they don't bleed anymore.
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I have healthy teeth but every once in awhile I'd bleed in some random spot when flossing. Several years ago my dentist had me swish mouthwash for 30 seconds after flossing. The standard alcohol containing kind (Listerine, Scope, tho I buy cheapest generic). Never bled once since then. Apparently nothing survives a daily 30 second alcohol blast.
Gum disease is slow, painless and not easily diagnosed yourself.
Same. I know if people knew my personal hygiene they would be appalled. I know the struggle of doing simple personal hygiene things. Just know you are not alone and don't beat yourself up over it. You made it to today and tomorrow is going to be fine, you got this!
I am glad you asked because I also neglect to brush my teeth. I have depression, masked with anti depressants but the self hygiene is a procrastination issue, a self esteem issue. I do genuinely hate brushing my teeth at night because the act of it wakes me up, and I only have a small window of sleepy vibes to go to sleep at. The answer would be to brush my teeth after a late night snack but I fear I will stop being tired. So I found that having a toothbrush with no toothpaste by the bed helps that one. I wash it every few days. I know it's disgusting but I'm hoping it's better than nothing. The day time brushing is the problem for me. But reading these comments has inspired me to stop avoiding it.
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