If your gums are swollen and if they bleed, you may have gingivitis, and this does indeed require the services of a dental care professional. Other symptoms of gingivitis include sores in the mouth, bright red gums, shiny gums, gums that hurt when pressure is applied to them, and even gums that itch.
Although the word sounds really serious and scary, gingivitis is simply an irritation of the gums. This irritation is brought on by bacterial ridden plaque. This plaque builds up between the teeth and gums. These plaque buildups can be so small that you cannot see them - but they are there, and they can turn into a dental problem.
No matter how small this bacteria ridden plaque is, it produces a great deal of toxins, causing inflammation of the gums. If left unchecked, this can cause pockets to form between the gums and the teeth, and this in turn can cause bone loss from around the bottom of the teeth. At this point, gingivitis has turned into periodontitis, which is more serious.
Now that you know what gingivitis is, you are probably still wondering how you get it. Failing to have your teeth cleaned professionally often enough (twice a year at least), is the fastest way to end up with gingivitis, as well as not taking proper care of your teeth between professional cleanings.
Aside from periodontitis, gingivitis can lead to all sorts of problems, including a disease called ANUG, or Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis. This is also commonly referred to as trench mouth. Doesn't that sound tasty?
As you can see, those dental cleanings twice a year really are important - more important that you might have thought that they were. Not only will these cleanings clean what you've been missing, but it also provides you with deep cleaning down into the gum line, which will help to prevent - or even cure - gingivitis.
