See Your Dentist if Flossing Starts to Hurt Posted on 11/13/2016 by Sundberg Office Flossing at least one time each day is important for the health of your teeth and your gums. It helps to rid your mouth of excess debris that may have gotten caught between your teeth, helping to keep your mouth cleaner than brushing alone. Flossing should take you only a few minutes each day, and should only be somewhat uncomfortable if you happened to push down too hard or get something stuck. If you notice that your flossing hurts, you need to go in and see your dentist.
Gum Disease Doesn’t Hurt, Right Away
The main thing that flossing can help prevent is gum disease. Each time you floss, you are removing debris from along the gums, which would otherwise sit there and decay your tooth or inflame your gums. If you are getting gum disease, at first, you would notice no extra pain in your gums, just possibly a slight puffiness in them. However, more advanced stages of gum disease do cause pain. Your dentist will want to check out your mouth if flossing has started causing pain. They will want to see if maybe something got stuck below the gum line, like a piece of food, or not. They may also want to check and see if you have any type of lumps or growths in the gums that could be causing the pain. When you go to the dentist, expect him or her to thoroughly check around your mouth and see what is going on. They will let you know what they find, and from there, the two of you can devise a treatment plan. Your dentist wants your mouth to remain pain-free as much as you do, so if you notice something in your mouth is causing you pain, contact us today to be seen right away.
