Could I be any more of an idiot?

[sanpaku_backup]

First, the car has a transmission fluid leak. Very slow, so slow I didn't think it was really there, but it is. So tomorrow is flushed as I try to deal with that. Hoping it will not cost a fortune and that I will get to the shop before all the fluid runs out, rendering the car worthless. (This one is definitely Boston's fault, as it no doubt came from the undercarriage scraping the enormous potholes here misnamed "roads" in our neighborhood.)

Then-- I have been thinking about going to the dentist, which I have not done in years. And how, whoa nelly do my gums look bad. I have good teeth, lousy gums. So I have been thinking. "When I go to the dentist, I want them to say my gums are great! I will take good care of my gums every night." So I have been trying to floss and brush around the gums a lot etc. Last night I got the bright idea to actually brush the base of my gums. Jeevus did they bleed. Today not only do my gums look really awful, I have all these sores inside my mouth.

Look it up on the internet. Hm. Apparently brushing gums too hard is a major cause of gingivitis, and sores are a major symptom. You brush the gums too hard, you detach the gums from the teeth, and they never grow back. In my Goofus kind of way (as in Goofus and Gallant) I was kind of thinking that massaging the gums would help them.

I often feel that my life is just a process of making every single mistake that can be made out of sheer thoughtlessness. And when I have done them all I will probably spontaneously explode.

Now I get to go lie in bed contemplating having an extremely painful graft of skin from elsewhere in my mouth to cover up my lousy gums. Shit, I hate dealing with health issues...

Comments

[ex-fauxpas266.livejournal.com]

Apparently brushing gums too hard is a major cause of gingivitis, and sores are a major symptom. You brush the gums too hard, you detach the gums from the teeth, and they never grow back. In my Goofus kind of way (as in Goofus and Gallant) I was kind of thinking that massaging the gums would help them.

That's exactly what I did! Shit! They never grow back? NEVER EVER? FUCK!!!!!! [insert more cussing here]

Calm yourselves!

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, they do grow back -- unless you've (a) repeatedly been damaging them for quite some time or (b) have a hereditary predeliction to gum recession. Skin grafts from the roof of the mouth are not necessary for most people, and if you immediately lay off the hard brushing, chances are the gums will recover. If they've receded a bit, that's just an Ouch! reaction on their part, and not necessarily a permanent problem. It takes A LOT to do serious damage; I know from personal experience.

Re: Calm yourselves!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Yes, I should say that the gums look a hell of a lot better today. Also, my reading didn't say exactly that they didn't grow back, just that the tissue grows very, very slowly, so they MAY AS WELL not grow back. I'll defer to the poster (Mr. Steen, per usual?) on what that really means. What's the "personal experience"?

I don't know what my predisposition is, except that my gums have almost always bled when i floss them, and the dentist always told me, "hm, you have to watch that gingivitis." Also, when I go to the dentist and they floss them, they bleed and hurt like hell, so I think I sort of assumed "pain=good for gums."

I did get wise to not using a hard-bristle brush and I don't think I've been brushing them that hard -- just doing it below the gumline, between the lip and the teeth. I'm not 100% on whether or not that's a good idea, but I will do it more gently from now on!

The point: when you look something up on the internet, you are already worried, and you confirm your own worries by what you find there... happens every time. But it is not necessarily the last word, I guess.

Personal experience

[(Anonymous)]

>I'll defer to the poster (Mr. Steen, per usual?) on what that really means. What's >the "personal experience"?

The older you get, the less quickly they grow back. The major factor in gum receding is bacterial infection. The problems do not occur ON the gums, but below the gumline. So the real key is to floss. I prefer the tape, because you don't have to saw it to get it between your teeth. When you first start flossing, your gums will probably bleed like the flowing of the mighty Mississippi. This only lasts a couple of days. If you keep up the flossing, eventually your gums won't bleed at all, save for when you are overzealous. It's really amazing how much your toothbrush doesn't do.

Although the brushing probably won't make your gums recede much, you want to avoid the hard-brushing. You should also only use a soft-bristle brush. I used to use a medium myself, because I felt like it accomplished more. In sum, brush is for clean teeth, floss is for clean gums.

Also, my dad swears by a light finger massage of the gums in the direction of the gumline, but I do not know if this has any medical benefit.

Re: Personal experience

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing: I know that your gums are supposed to stop bleeding after you floss for a while, which is why I have been trying off and on for years to make myself floss regularly. Since I have started this program of dental improvement, I have been flossing minimum every other night for a few months now... and they still bleed. Maybe not as much as they used to, but just about every time. I do not know if the problem stems from lacking the discipline to do it every single day, or what.

More than anyone wants to know: The number of sores in my mouth right now is truly frightening. The blood that came out when I brushed my gums obviously carried some really nasty motherfucking bacteria. The human body is a beautiful but incredibly gross thing, etc.

I really should just see a dentist...

[one-11.livejournal.com]

Ugh. So many beautiful pictures with which to fill my mind at this late hour...

I, too, am periodically warned of gum recession by my dentist. This pisses me off, because otherwise I have pretty decent teeth. The recession has been caused by vigorous brushing over years. Why did I brush vigrously? BECAUSE ALL MY FUCKING LIFE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TELLING ME AND THE ENTIRE FUCKING SOCIETY TO BRUSH AND BRUSH OFTEN AND REGULARLY AND EVERY DAY AND AFTER EVERY MEAL! And never once did they tell us brushing too much could HURT YOU!.

Another awful thing about dentistry is that teeth can crack for no reason. I've had healthy teeth all my life and then a year ago, BAM. Toothache. Turns out the tooth was cracked and I eventually needed a root canal on it. How did the tooth crack? No one knows. "Sometimes it just happens," my dentist said. So all my many years of taking good care of my teeth made no difference at all.

Ach. I feel your pain, sanpaku. Well, probably not as much pain as you're feeling, but you know. Pain.

Re:

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Whoa, I do not want to contemplate the concept of a "root canal" right now. I have exactly one small filling, and the memory of that has been enough to fill any pending dentist trip with constant dread.

My paranoia about my teeth lately stems from noticing that I have this strange black mark on the back of one of my lower front teeth. It looks like a crack or something, though it doesn't hurt.

Just go to the dentist already!

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

OK, I've had teeth knocked out, I've had root canal, I've had root planing as a preventitive measure against the gum disease that was creeping up on me at the tender age of 22. Once you have root planing done, you will FREAKING FLOSS EVERY DAY because you never, ever want to have it done again. It hurts so damn bad that they only do 1/4 of your mouth at a time. Yes, you have to make yourself trek to the dentist 4 freaking times to let them clean UNDER your gums. But once you have it done, and then you start flossing every day, everything is fine. Really. And you want to keep those teeth. They're your friends.

Re: Just go to the dentist already!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Okay, telling me about intense and severe pain is not really more likely to make me want to go...! But I get what you mean.

Re: Just go to the dentist already!

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I know, but it is sort of fun to talk about pain endured. My dad used to call our dentist "Dr. Mengele." Not funny then, but funny now. Anyway, here's another tip: run your soft-bristled toothbrush under HOT water before you put your toothpaste on it. Makes it even softer. The warm toothbrush feels weird at first, but you get used to it. I learned this from J, who brushed too damn hard and receded his gums a bit too. You guys are just too...vigorous with your repetitive back-and-forth motions...

Re: Just go to the dentist already!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

So you're saying we learned this somewhere, huh?... Anyway, thanks for the tip. I hope I can do whatever it takes to avoid anything involving the concept of "planing" some part of my body.