to think that raw bleeding gums the day after a dental hygienist appointment is wrong

[IrisAtwood]

Saw my dentist and dental hygienist yesterday. I am always told by them how good my dental hygiene is. I have to have a hand scale for health reasons and I sometimes think that this might annoy her a bit.

The dental hygiene has always been a bit harsh, but yesterday was ridiculous. This morning I had trouble cleaning my teeth because the gums are raw, painful and bleeding.

This isn’t normal is it?

Complain to the practice.

Normal, in my experience, after a good clean.

Gums are sensitive so a couple of days after seeing the hygeinist they can be sore/uncomfortable.

But if you're not happy and are concerned, call them and discuss it.

Doesn’t sound normal to me, no. Is she the only hygienist there? If not, never have her again! If so, I would complain and ask that you only see your dentist for any work.

Mine are tender the next day too. I usually have a thorough scale and polish.

I’ve had it all sorts of ways when I see my dental hygienist and it all depends on the state of my mouth. Perhaps this time your gums were a little more sensitive? I’m really dedicated to my gum health and yet sometimes my gums bleed, it’s difficult to be perfect!

That’s true. I think she really did do a deep clean as the dentist asked her to particularly focus on one area - but that’s not the area that’s sore!

I'm generally sensitive and sore for a few days after a scale and polish. Sounds normal for me.

Dental hygienists are sadists.

I had a row with the last one I saw after I asked her if her constant insults about my dental state , and her carelessly rough manner were including in the price of the treatment, or should I tip?

Can be normal if you've had a deep clean, yes - especially if you haven't had one for a while. I was advised to do salt water rinsing after one (not drinking the water, just warm water with salt in and swish round your mouth).

My dentist this most recent visit encouraged me to rinse with warm salt water after dinner to help toughen the gums. Apparently a bit of bleeding and tenderness can be common. The salt water acts as a kind of saline to keep things in check?

Normal for me especially after a good clean

zinrepus re. the salt water. Is he encouraging this daily after dinner or just when you’ve had an appointment?

Normal for me after clean. But I have gum disease n gums wildly sensitive.

If I stop flossing for a while and re start I’ll get some bleeding so I’d have just thought it was a similar thing?

Sounds normal. Unless the bleeding is very extensive. A morning people have gingivitis and when it's being poked it bleeds.

Sounds normal really, use Corsodyl mouthwash, or salt water for a couple of days, until settle s down.

@sheshootssheimplores For the first week post-appointment to toughen the gums, and then other times based on my teeth (got a sizeable gap between two teeth due to a poorly shaped filling a while back).

My gums hurt for a week after my last hygienist appointment!

It really depends on your dental health. I am dentally obsessive, so I would be very surprised if this happened to me. Healthy gums don't bleed unless they are traumatised, and I know my gums are healthy (dentist confirms regularly). Hygienists don't like doing the hand scale, but it shouldn't mean they are causing problems, either deliberately or through incompetence!

I do remember when I was looking for a decent dentist in Scotland, one was so harsh on my gums that it caused them to recede off my front 3 teeth veneers overnight - and yes, that was accompanied by much bleeding. Luckily the dentist I finally found was able to rectify the damage (by replacing the veneers!).

Of course, if your dental hygiene has been slipping, well, gingivitis causes gums to bleed with even the most minor trauma (brushing for instance). If you saw your dentist before the hygienist, he will have scored your gum health - so you could phone and ask him what it it was if you are unsure.

If you had perfect gums before seeing her, then I'd look for another hygienist.

No idea what’s OK, but it sounds like you’re unhappy with your hygienist. Suggest switching! It’s quite a personal thing having teeth cleaned like that so feeling comfortable with the person doing it is important IME!

I’ve switched hygienists for being brusque before. Like my current one!

Thanks for all of your responses.

I see the hygienist every six months and am really careful with dental hygiene - electric timer based toothbrush twice a day, flossing and mouthwash too. My gum health was better than before, apart from in one spot which was where the dentist wanted the deep clean.

The hygienist has been tough before - but yesterday was the worst ever. I think I’m going to ask to see a different hygienist.

It's quite normal to have sore gums afterwards especially if you needed a deep clean. If there's an area that needs deep cleaning this means your gums health isn't ideal.

If there's stuff to clean off this will also mean there will be some inflammation of your gums in that area, even if it's not deep cleaning level. If gums were inflamed during the clean they will be sore afterwards.

A good hygienist will thoroughly clean your teeth, they should be removing everything and getting right under your gums. If they have to do this by hand then it's going to end up feeling a bit brutal.

Ask for another hygienist if you are unhappy with yours, but it doesn't sound like they've done anything wrong to me. If it's any consolation I scaled my own teeth recently and my gums were sore for about a week! Salt water will help

Thanks pixie.

That all sounds very reasonable to me 😊

I’m a hygienist. I don’t mind hand scaling when asked, nice not to have to listen to the uss for a while and flex my skills a bit more. I would be surprised if any hygienist would “take it out on you” for needing a hand scale only. That would be assault after all !
Most likely cause of bleeding and tenderness is if you haven’t been flossing as much as you think and the interdental spaces have become inflamed. Not easy to spot if your tooth brushing is taking care of the gum otherwise.
Hand scaling, while we don’t mean to can cause a bit more discomfort than the ultra sonic scaler as it’s possible to accidentally “scrape” the soft tissue lining the gingival margin / pocket ( it’s called curettage and used to be carried out deliberately years ago! ) but again this is only likely to cause discomfort if the tissue is inflamed in the first place.
I hate it when I’ve hurt a patient but if you weigh up the positives it’s usually a good thing to have done.
After the last deep clean I did for my husband he showed me a blood clot he rinsed into the sink the next day. I was pretty surprised how it looked.

I had this. Ive never been back and it put me off the dentist for a while too. My gums were bleeding and mouth was really sore for a few days.