My gums bleed and are painful in spite of brushing gently. Please help.

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have seen the pictures attached along with your complaint (attachment removed to protect patient identity). It looks like trench mouth (in dental terms acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis). It is one of the common dental disease caused by bacterial infection. It is aggravated by stress, weak immune system, or habits such as smoking. It is usually painful and ulcerative. Instead of Ibuprofen and Listerine mouthwash, I suggest using warm salt water rinse thrice daily or Colgate Peroxyl rinses twice daily after meals. Just use 10 mL of the mouthwash to gargle for one minute and spit it out. This helps in pain relief and removing dead tissue on the ulcers. Please avoid smoking habit if you do and also avoid hot and spicy food. Brushing and flossing are to be continued, and never stop doing it. But, avoid vigorous brushing. The indentation and the white gums in between the teeth is the appearance of the ulceration and this disease usually presents in this form. It will heal as you do the rinse treatment along with good oral hygiene. Meanwhile, I also advise you visit your dentist to get a professional cleaning done along with a blood check up to confirm any underlying infection. You might also be prescribed an antibiotic medication for the same.