“What causes bleeding gums in kids?”
My 8 year old son's gums have been bleeding, especially when he brushes his teeth. What could be causing this?
11 Answers
First have your son's teeth checked. Pay attention to how your child was told how to floss and brush his teeth. An adult should be supervising your child. Children can rush. skip steps. Bleeding gums can have many causes. Not brushing correctly is one of them. Not flossing is another. Rinsing with salt water is soothing but better flossing and brushing will make a big difference.
Most probable cause is lack of appropriate hygiene.
Could very well need a dental professional evaluation and treatment of this inflammation.
Could very well need a dental professional evaluation and treatment of this inflammation.
Most of the time it's due to brushing hard and irritating the gum by a toothbrush! Please make sure the toothbrush is soft, and he (or you), brushes his teeth at least 2 times per day, before going to bed and after waking up! If he experiences the same amount of bleeding after a couple of weeks, please consult this matter with his dentist and/or primary care to make sure it's not due to Vitamin C deficiency?! Best of luck!
Poor Oral hygiene. Not removing plaque and not flossing
This is due to too much plaque accumulation. Use a disclosing solution to check if he is removing the plaque properly.
This is most likely due to poor oral hygiene such as improper brushing technique and flossing technique. Once these techniques are refined and cleaning is completed this should decrease significantly.
Bleeding when brushing is a sign of gingivitis. This is caused by not effectively removing the plaque 2 times per day with good brushing. You should help him/monitor him and make sure he is getting his teeth cleaned properly ( a lot of kids will miss the areas near the gumline). If the gumline is missed, the bodies response to the lingering bacteria is an inflammatory reaction which is what causes the red swollen bleeding gums.
Children need to floss just like adults. Daily is not necessary, but at least every other day is. Bleeding gums is nature's signal to us that we have ulcers in the gums caused by germs. By simply flossing these germs get stirred up and confused which temporarily stops them from attacking the gums. Remember the old dental saying, "You don't need to floss all of your teeth. Just the ones you want to keep."
A nine-year-old should be using floss properly and if it's difficult for them to manipulate it, then a floss aid would be recommended to be able to get to the areas between the teeth where cavities begin and the gum tissue is much more likely to bleed from excess bacteria that is not being removed properly. His or her hygienist will take the time to properly instruct them on how to brush and floss and you will see this problem disappear for a healthier mouth and fewer cavities between check-ups.
This could mean many different things. When soft tissues start bleeding, it is the first sign of inflammation. Healthy gum tissue shouldn’t bleed. We can also see bleeding contributed to medication, airway breathing, anemia, etc. The first thing is to visit your dentist or pediatric dentist with your 8-year-old and get this under control. Preventive care is really the best way to go.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Talk with his hygienist. Plaque accumulation is the normal cause. If this doesn't seem to be the case, he must be checked for a systemic cause by his physician. 8-year-olds are not notorious for brushing skill. I remember as a child, I would wet my toothbrush and hang its up, so my mother thought I was brushing. Watch him brush, use only a small amount of tooth paste, so you can see what is going on. Use a very soft brush and use the tips of the bristles. Use a circular pattern partially on the gums. Help with the brushing. At first you may get bleeding, because the gums have gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) from plaque accumulation. As the plaque is reduced, the inflammation will decrease and the bleeding will stop. Make sure to keep on schedule with Recare visits every six months.
