When Should Gums Stop Bleeding After a Deep Cleaning?
Are your gums left bleeding after a deep cleaning from your dentist or hygienist?
First off, do not be alarmed if a deep cleaning has left your gums bleeding.
“Gums heal very quickly,” begins Laurence (Larry) Grayhills, DMD, MS, MAGD, member of the Academy of General Dentistry.
“Just as a cut or scrape responds within a matter of days of cleaning a wound, removing bacteria-laden calculus (aka, tartar) by a dental professional will produce results within 24 hours,” continues Dr. Grayhills.
“One will notice a reduction of inflammation (red, swollen gums) returning to a nice firm consistency with an ‘orange peel’ stippling.
“In light skinned individuals, the change from red, bleeding gums will transform to non-bleeding coral pink.
“In dark skinned individuals, the color change may not be as obvious, but the transformation to non-bleeding occurs within days.
“It’s important to note that unless meticulous home care is maintained, this type of healing may not occur.
“Flossing is the most important procedure to prevent gingivitis ( irritated, bleeding gums) and periodontitis (loss of bony support around your teeth).”
Tips on How to Prevent Bleeding Gums after a Professional Cleaning
Shutterstock/Q-stock
The dental professional uses a sharp tool for the scraping portion of the cleaning. The actual polishing may also be more aggressive than what the patient is used to.
So if you are not a regular flosser, you can expect some blood after the cleaning.
If you hate flossing or can never remember to do it, at least make a point to begin flossing three weeks from your dental appointment, to give your gums enough time to “toughen up” for the professional scraping and cleaning.
Floss thoroughly, and do not be alarmed if this draws blood. Do not be alarmed if you taste blood.
After several days of thorough flossing, you’ll be bleeding a lot less. In under a week you should not be bleeding at all.
- Do not skip any days.
- Do not go to sleep with meat and other food stuck between your teeth.
- Floss after the meal if possible.
Finally, when brushing your teeth, make sure to brush behind them as well, and also gently brush your upper and lower gums!
Dr. Grayhills is with Mohip Dental & Associates, of FL, which provides the highest level of cosmetic, restorative, prosthetic and emergency dental care available.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Mintybear
What Makes a Tooth Hurt More At Night in Bed?
Ever notice that dental pains or aching teeth are more prominent at night when you’re in bed?
Two Reasons Tooth Pain Is Worse at Night
“A decayed tooth will hurt more at night for two reasons,” says Laurence (Larry) Grayhills, DMD, MS, MAGD, member of the Academy of General Dentistry.
Dr. Grayhills continues, “When laying back in the supine position, the blood pressure to the head increases (orthostatic hypertension, much as when your head is lower than the rest of your body) and will accentuate the blood flow to the damaged tooth, thereby enhancing the inflammatory process.
“Secondly, at night there are less distractions as there are during the day, allowing the affected individual to focus on the pain they are experiencing in the tooth.”
Seeing your dentist twice a year for routine checkups will go a long way at preventing tooth decay.
Why do so many people refuse to see the dentist?
One reason is fear. There is the fear of a nerve being poked by an instrument during a routine scraping procedure.
There is also the discomfort of lying helpless with one’s mouth wide open and someone looking inside with instruments.
Another reason is fear of being told something like, “You have five cavities,” or, “You will need a root canal.”
And of course, there is the bill for the services. Many people do not have dental coverage — including business owners.
However, like that famous saying goes, “A stitch in time saves nine.”
If you think you’re saving money by neglecting to have your teeth routinely examined, you may end up paying a pretty penny down the road for major dental work.
If the decay of a tooth has reached a point where it is hurting, whether only at night or during most of the day as well, this usually means that the sufferer has neglected regular dental visits.
Dr. Grayhills is with Mohip Dental & Associates, of FL, which provides the highest level of cosmetic, restorative, prosthetic and emergency dental care available. Academy of General Dentistry
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/fizkes
How to Tell If Your Molar Extraction Site Is Healing Well
Things can definitely go wrong in the healing process following molar removal, so it’s important to know how to tell whether the site is healing well or not.
“As with any surgery, there’s going to be a recovery period,” says Laurence (Larry) Grayhills, DMD, MS, MAGD, member of the Academy of General Dentistry.
Dr. Grayhills continues, “Seven to ten days is a good estimate for the healing of an extracted tooth. If, after this time period, there is swelling, pain or a bad odor, it could be infected or developing a ‘dry socket.’”
What is a dry socket?
Dry sockets are uncommon, affecting two to five percent of people who have a tooth removed.
However, this is no consolation to the small percentage of patients who develop this uncomfortable, though very treatable, condition.
When the molar is removed, this leaves a hole (socket) in the bone. Part of the healing process is that of a blood clot forming in the socket to protect the bone and nerves.
If the clot dissolves or becomes dislodged, this vulnerable area is then exposed to anything that’s in your mouth, potentially leading to infection and pain (that can spread to the ear) that may last around six days.
Smoking increases the risk of a dry socket. So if you smoke and are planning on having your molars removed, you should quit smoking in the days leading up to the extraction.
To ensure that your molar extraction site is healing well, you can view it daily and check for a dry socket. If you see dark where the molar was removed, this is the protective blood clot.
If you see white, it’s a dry socket. Pain from a dry socket usually starts two days after the extraction.
Another checkpoint for the healing process is the development of unexplained bad breath and/or a bad taste in the mouth.
If you suspect that your molar removal site is not healing the way it should, don’t delay contacting your dentist.
The sooner the treatment, the less uncomfortable you’ll be.
Dr. Grayhills is with Mohip Dental & Associates, of FL, which provides the highest level of cosmetic, restorative, prosthetic and emergency dental care available.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/ GlebSStock
Why Can’t CPAP Bring AHI Down to Zero All Night?
Are you concerned that your AHI keeps showing as two, three or four despite doing everything possible to ensure your CPAP is working right?
It’s a fair question: Why don’t CPAP machines deliver an AHI of zero?
“Thinking logically about this issue, it’s clear that there are two general explanatory paths,” says Joseph Krainin, MD, board certified in sleep medicine and neurology and founder of the online sleep apnea clinic Singular Sleep.
“One, your machine is not set correctly for you, or you have a problem with the delivery of the pressure to your upper airway, i.e., elevated leak.
“Two, the machine-calculated AHI is not perfect and can be spurious.
“I like to counsel patients that it’s a good ‘spitball’ estimate. If you are awake with your mask on and hold your breath for a few seconds, the machine will register that as an abnormal breathing event.”
There’s no data on just how many people in any demographic consistently have an AHI of zero, without any CPAP therapy.
However, sleep medicine doctors deem an AHI of under five to be in the normal range, not qualifying for a diagnosis of disordered breathing during sleep.
There probably are people out there who naturally have an AHI of zero, night after night.
Maybe they’re the ones who always sleep straight through the night, and when they get up in the morning, they don’t even have to urinate.
Maybe they have big jaws and chins and a big roomy airway. Who knows?
But an AHI of two, three or four is perfectly fine, under the radar for sleep-disordered breathing.
Thus, you should not fret if your CPAP machine can’t get your AHI to zero.
Nevertheless, a good question is why wouldn’t a CPAP machine keep the AHI at zero, being that it’s forcing air pressure down the throat?
Dr. Krainin explains, “Centrals [central apneas] can register in the machine’s calculated AHI, but also, being under-pressurized can lead to residual events.
“If auto-titrating machines are not adjusted properly, that can cause residual obstructive events as well.”
In 2013 Dr. Krainin was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, an honor reserved for sleep doctors who’ve made significant contributions to the field in education, research and service.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Grossinger
Pneumonia Cough vs. Bronchitis Cough Symptom Comparison
Pneumonia and bronchitis are notorious for causing a lot of coughing, but does this cough differ between the two conditions?
“It is important to begin by stating the differences between bronchitis and pneumonia,” says Angel Coz, MD, FCCP, board certified pulmonologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. (more…)
Can a Habit of Heavy Breathing Have a Serious Cause?
When is heavy breathing benign and when is it serious? Are some people just “naturally” heavy breathers – or, does this necessarily signal a problem?
“Heavy breathing is typically identified by an elevated rate of respiration at rest,” says Angel Coz, MD, FCCP, board certified pulmonologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. (more…)
Conditions that Mimic Exercise Induced Asthma Symptoms
Exercise induced asthma (EIA) has several skilled mimickers. You should know what they are.
“The classic symptoms of asthma include wheezing and shortness of breath,” says Angel Coz, MD, FCCP, board certified pulmonologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“However, several other conditions may present with similar symptoms and mimic asthma.”
Asthma Mimickers
“Heart ischemia: condition caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle,” says Dr. Coz.
“Although the main symptom is chest pain, it can present as shortness of breath.”
Another name for this condition is angina. It’s caused by clogged (blocked) coronary arteries.
“Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): Patients typically experience heartburn from abnormal flow of stomach acid back into the esophagus.
“GERD can cause asthma or make asthma more difficult to control.
“Chronic obstructive lung [pulmonary] disease (COPD): disease most commonly caused by chronic cigarette smoking that presents with shortness of breath and wheezing.
“At times, it can be difficult to differentiate COPD from asthma. Patients with COPD tend to have chronic productive cough.
“Congestive heart failure: accumulation of fluid in the lungs caused by inadequate cardiac pumping of blood. It can cause shortness of breath and at times wheezing.
“However, heart failure typically presents with lower extremity swelling, inability to lay flat, etc.”
Coronary artery disease and untreated sleep apnea are major risk factors for congestive heart failure.
“Vocal cord dysfunction or paralysis.” This is one of those conditions that a primary care physician may easily overlook when the patient describes what happened to them out of the blue.
Vocal cords are muscles. Muscles are prone to go into spasm.
In VCD, the spasm locks the muscles into a closed or nearly-closed position, blocking the airway.
The result is a sensation that the windpipe is as narrow as a straw.
Inhaling, no matter how hard one tries, is difficult, and not enough air gets through.
A VCD episode may last seconds to a minute or so, and can occur in the fittest athletes.
When struggling to inhale, the person will typically hear a wheezing sound.
Dr. Coz is a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has a special interest in sepsis resuscitation and medical education.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Can Coughing Be the Only Symptom of Pneumonia?
Is it actually possible for a person with pneumonia to have only one symptom: coughing?
“One of the hallmark symptoms of pneumonia is cough, but it is infrequently the only symptom,” says Angel Coz, MD, FCCP, board certified pulmonologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“Infrequently” is the key word here. It’s possible for coughing to be the only symptom of pneumonia—but this is very atypical.
It Happened to My Elderly Mother
My mother’s only symptom of her second bout of pneumonia was, indeed, just coughing.
- She reported no feverish feeling.
- She reported no decline in energy or increase in fatigue.
- She “felt fine” and was up and about as she normally always was.
- There were no aches or pains anywhere.
- Her throat was not sore or scratchy.
- All she had was a cough.
However, I did not like the sound of the cough, and it just seemed like a different animal than what would be caused by a typical common cold.
It didn’t sound like her usual cough from a cold or from acid reflux.
There was something about the way it sounded that made me highly suspicious that it was pneumonia, which was easily confirmed with an X-ray. The treatment was antibiotics.
Pneumonia as it appears on an X-ray. James Heilman, MD, CreativeCommons
Dr. Coz continues, “It is important to mention that pneumonia tends to be more common in patients with pre-existing lung disease like emphysema (COPD).
“Those patients typically have cough on a regular basis. However, any change in the intensity of the cough or in the characteristics of the phlegm (increased amount, change in color, etc.) should alert the patient that a different process is occurring and that medical attention should be sought immediately.”
When a person over age 65 is diagnosed in the ER with pneumonia, even when the only symptom is a cough (or at least the patient reports this), it’s not uncommon for the doctor to recommend an overnight stay in the ER observation wing just as an extra layer of medical security.
Dr. Coz is a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has a special interest in sepsis resuscitation and medical education.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Stockbakery
Can You Die from an Exercise Induced Asthma Episode?
Exercise induced asthma, though seemingly well-controlled with an inhaler, can be deadly.
This is why, if you’ve been diagnosed with EIA, you should never think, “Oops, forgot my inhaler; well, I could do without it this one time.”
If you forgot your inhaler, then you must either go back home and get it, or, if that’s not practical at the time, then your only option is to cancel the physical activity.
Otherwise, you can be risking your life — even if you’ve never had any major complications in the past with exercise.
Exercise Induced Asthma Be Fatal
“Yes, although very rare, cases have been reported,” says Angel Coz, MD, FCCP, board certified pulmonologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“The best approach for EIA is to prevent the onset of symptoms with the use of an asthma inhaler prior to exercise.
“When symptoms present during exercise, it is important to stop exercise and provide immediately the asthma rescue inhaler (short acting beta 2 agonist).
“If not treated, symptoms can progress to severe status asthmaticus and even death.”
You certainly don’t want to take this chance if you forgot your inhaler, even if the physical activity is going to occur near a medical facility.
Severe Status Asthmaticus Defined
This is another name for a severe asthma attack that does not respond to inhalers or the hormone epinephrine given under the skin.
It’s as much a medical emergency as is a heart attack, and can occur to an athlete who, despite having been diagnosed with exercise induced asthma, is working out without an inhaler.
Even if the diagnosis is that of mild or moderate, an athlete or a person working out for fitness may die from an untreated episode of exercise induced asthma.
This doesn’t mean that a diagnosis of asthma means you shouldn’t work out or should avoid strenuous activity.
It just means that you should not exercise without your inhaler very nearby.
The inhaler should, ideally, be on your person for a quick retrieval in the event of a problem.
If you fear dying from an asthma attack triggered by exercise, then make the plan of immediately ceasing activity at the first sign of symptoms.
Next, immediately use your inhaler. Do not wait out the situation.
There is no data on what the average wait time, for using their inhaler, was for the athletes and exercisers who died from an asthma attack.
Perhaps most delayed the use because they had to complete those last few reps with a barbell, or had to make that hoop shot.
Ceasing activity immediately means IMMEDIATELY. Forget the set or game.
Dr. Coz is a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has a special interest in sepsis resuscitation and medical education.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: hutterstock/Zania Studio
Asthma vs. Vocal Cord Dysfunction: Symptoms Comparison
