3yo - Blood in spit after toothbrushing

[ilovehugs]

Quite often when I brush by DD's teeth, there is blood in her spit. I would say 1 out of every 3 times. Her teeth and gums look fine and she goes to the dentist allot. They are not swollen or red and don't bleed when I floss her teeth.

Now for the complicated bit -
I tend to worry allot about my DD due to her health problems. She had some big ops as a baby to correct a congenital bowel defect and needed allot of extra care and I found it all very scary. She has been severely conspitated since the surgery (now over two yeas ago) and although doing well, is struggling to gain continance and very dependent on laxatives (despite a diet packed full of fruit, veg & fiber. Sadly due a combination of adult dosages of lactulose, anti-biotics, extended night-time breastfeeding and too much fruit and fruit juice (to help her constipation) she developed some tooth decay, which arrested but not before she fell over and badly damaged one of her teeth. Because of her age and because she had already had 3 GA's her dentist insisted that any teeth which could cause future problems should be removed with the damaged one and so now she has allot of exposed gum on her upper jaw, having had 2 molars and 4 top fron incisors removed.
Dp thinks it's down to her gum's being a bit 'grazed' sometimes because they have to do the work of the teeth and these areas get exposed sometimes when I brush her teeth - and that's where the blood is coming from. Sometimes there are marks on there. But I have just stooopidly googled bleeding gums and am really worrying it might be something scarier.
Any thoughts??

Bump!

It is unlikely to be anything nasty. I would ring your dentist and ask to have her mouth checked as she has bleeding on brushing. They will be happy to look and check and hopefully reassure you.

OP, it sounds to me like your dentist has been very sensible in arranging for any teeth likely to give problems in the future to be removed in one go. It is exactly what I would recommend as a dentist. It sounds to me like your DH could be right about her gums getting a little traumatised if her other teeth are biting on them. She seems to have a healthy diet, though I can totally understand why you would be prone to worrying about her health. Definitely get in to see your dentist to put your mind at rest.

BTW, I am seriously impressed if you are flossing her teeth. Well done!

Hi, I'm a dentist and while there is no substitute for seeing your dentist so they can have a good look, it sounds like simple gingivitis.
Where plaque builds up (and it does in everyone, I promise) the gums get a little inflamed and infected (forming microulcers) when you then get these plaquey places again with the toothbrush, the ulcers pop & cause bleeding. If you see bleeding, 99.999 times out of 100, this means you need to brush more or more effectively. I really hope this doesn't sound like I'm getting at you because out of 60 odd check ups I did last week, every single person had this bleeding........ these are adults who by and large can look after themselves.

Perhaps you could try to spot any bits that you might miss by using disclosing tablets? You can get them from the chemist and often there ate bits (on the inside of the top teeth often) which accumulate plaque but are hard to reach.

Teachers pet for the floss BTW!!!