Metal Mouth Message Board

my gums are SOOOO swollen in one spot and i dont know what to do
when i went to bed last night it wasnt this swollen and now im freaking out so bad
and it hurts!! other than salt water rinses what should i do?

Where is it swollen? Is there a chance you could have something stuck between your teeth or under the gum?

If it's between 2 teeth, you could try the trick of tying knots in some dental floss and jerking it sharply through the space and see if anything comes out. It will probably hurt though.

There's a post here about knotted floss

viewtopic.php?t=14189&highlight=knotted+floss

If you feel it's getting worse and you can't find anything stuck in there, you might want to phone your dentist as you might need antibiotics and the swollen bit cleaned out.

Good luck!

I had two swollen/sore spots last month due to the fact that I ran out of special brush heads for my Rotadent. Have you recently switched brushes or changed the way you brush/floss in that area? Before my new brushes arrived I tried like crazy with the my regular flat head Rotadent brush as well as a lot of flossing both with the Crest Glide Threader Floss and my WaterPik automatic flosser... it didn't really work. Thankfully, my new brush heads finally came and I've been able to brush them back to health.

You might want to switch brush heads or consult your Ortho.

I don't know why, but my gums swell alot... I brush/floss/mouthwash, but they still swell... right now, the spots with the spacers are a little swollen, but not too bad... I just hope they don't swell worse since I can't floss there right now... Hope yours get to feeling better!

Hi trequ,

I agree with the other posts so far - give your dentist a call if the swelling persists. I had my braces put in a month ago and after one week, whilst brushing my teeth at night, I noticed a slight swelling in one spot of my gum (it was where I had an extraction). I went to bed and the next morning it was swollen to the size of a pea ! I went to my orthodontist, who bounced me to my dentist, who said I had to wait until a week later for an appointment, but was luckly bumped up and had the swollen area drained. It was infected . So yes, see your dentist and I hope all is well!

She Waits.