poll of the symptom: bleeding gums

[plantlvr]

I know it's old but I'm glad I found this thread! Been vaping for a week now and just yesterday I noticed that one of my crowns seem to be sensitive. Then last night before bed when I brushed my teeth lots of blood, yuck. Laying in bed it felt like my gums were really swollen, better this morning.
Thanks for all the info everyone!

 

[dragonpuff]

My gums just started bleeding like crazy about a week ago, and they were sore. I figured it was because i quit smoking cuz of everything i read on this forum.

I switched to a softer toothbrush and it went away

 

[Crystal~Rose]

I have been vaping only for about 7 weeks, have noticed bleeding gums since the first week, no tenderness or any other symptom or side effect.

 

[DaMulta]

I've been vapping from mid June. My gums started bleeding 2 weeks in. I brush my teeth two times a day. Use listerine mouth wash, and use hydrogen peroxide at night.

In the morning I wake up with a mouth full of blood. It's gross, but I'm half way used to it. A good brush, and mouth wash and it stops. Come evening it's back, and I use hydrogen peroxide, or salt water then it stops. I then brush before bed with little to no bleeding. Yet, when I wake up it's back....I even went, and bought one of those high dollar tooth brushes.

I have tried different levels of nicotine, to not vapping at night. Nothing seems to help.... I don't have dental insurance, and really don't want a thousand dollar bill.......


Now I read this Eludril works, and it's not sold in the US. Should I order some? Is it a stronger kind of mouth wash?

 

[Kurt]

I was having these same symptoms too, but they actually started in the days BEFORE I got my first PV and was still smoking. It was actually one of the symptoms that was telling me to quit analogs. I was getting the strong impression that the cigarettes I was smoking were more toxic than those that I had been smoking for years. It persisted for a couple of weeks after I started vaping and smoked very little. Now it is essentially gone, even with flossing.

Perhaps you are experiencing a residual issue with analogs.

Also, we are ingesting MUCH less nicotine than from the patch, and certainly much less than analogs...about 1/10 the amount. Nic is a vasoconstricter. Perhaps with lower nic in general more blood is flowing to the gums and the damage that cig tar causes.

Just a thought. If it persists I would definitely see a dentist.

 

[Kurt]

Also, we are a pretty big group here, as in 10s of 1000s. Statistically gum disease could be hitting some of us anyway, independent of vaping. Not saying the PV is innocent, at least not yet, but there are other variables that should be ruled out.

One of the oral side effects of smoking is receding and bleeding gums. I had both. The bleeding I describe above was actually a concern about possible gum or bone infection and possible tooth loss. But again, this started about a month BEFORE I started vaping. A little colloidal silver dripped onto the gum area healed it right up. It has been fine for several days, but I will be more watchful of it now based on the implications of this thread.

 

[GregH]

I visited my hygienist today for my 6 months cleaning/checkup. It's the first time I've seen her since I stopped smoking and started vaping. (It's been 5 months this week.)

Anyway, she noticed right away, without me having to tell her, that I had stopped smoking. While she was thrilled that I had almost zero stain on my teeth (it was the easiest cleaning I've ever had), she was mostly excited by the condition of my gums.

She explained that smokers typically don't suffer from bleeding gums, which, in nonsmokers, can be a sign of gum disease because tobacco restricts blood flow. But when a smoker stops, the gum tissues regain blood flow and start to 'come back to life'. During that time, there can be increased bleeding. She indicated that I had some bleeding present today but it was expected. She tried to explain how, before, my gums had a sort of gray, lifeless pallor to them. But now they are bright, pink, and healthy looking.

Both she and the dentist were amazed at how healthy my gums and palate look now compared to what they had been. (I've been seeing this same hygienist/dentist for over 20 years: a little less than the time I smoked.)

My hygienist was very intrigued by my e-cig. She wrote down several Web sites (the ones I could remember off-hand) to look up and share with her other patients who smoke.

 

[amaro999]

I started to have bleeding gums 3 weeks ago. I've never had anything like that in my whole life. I was hoping it would stop eventually, but it didn´t. It was so much blood while brushing my teeth that it made me really terrified. All the toothpaste foam that came out from my mouth was completely red.

I quit analogs in May and since then I just vape. I used to vape quite a lot (in the evenings I used to sit in front of the computer and vape continuously) my Joye 510 and sometimes I could feel that my gums were getting swollen while vaping.

I was so concerned for my teeth health that I stopped smoking (was not too hard, I've been smoking for just 2 years). After JUST 2 days it stopped bleeding completely and after 6 days (now) it looks MUCH healthier.

 

[Stric9]

Yes, I have heard of scurvy. I know I live in the UK and that may make us a third world country these days. I am clearly not short of a bob or two, as I can afford lots of things, including ecigs, inexpensive vitamins and fresh organic fruit and vegetables. ffs.

This Girl's gots some Moxy!!!
I had that bleeding deal too... but it cleared up after a week (or three).

Respects

 

[quovadis]

Yes me too.

But it's all good..increased blood flow in the gums = less periodontal disease.

It's not scurvy, unless you have had no form of vitamin C for a year or more.

 

[stoop411]

Been vaping and off analogs since October 4th, I have noticed a slight amount of blood in the mornings when I brush. Would love to get some concrete evidence that its not from vaping and more from quitting smoking and gums healing.

 

[Kismayaz]

My gums don't bleed when I brush. It's like they bleed overnight while I sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I spit out lots of blood, and rinse out my mouth with water. Then, just to make sure it's not my lungs I try to cough something up, and it's just clear. After I rinse my mouth out, and then brush there's no more blood the rest of the day and up until the next morning when my mouth is full of it once again. I'm gonna try rinsing my mouth out before I go to bed and see if that helps, but I've been vaping exclusively for more than 3 months, and it's getting annoying...

 

[kno]

bleeding gums? WTF? ive been e-smoking exclusively for a month and i can't imagine somehting like that!

 

[kno]

sounds like you guys all have gingivitis or periodontal disease...

 

[Wench]

Been vaping about 6 months now, no bleeding gum issues here.

 

[jj2]

I really liked the last option---couldn't mark it though, I still got my own choppers.

Gums got, and still do, get tender now and then, but never have bled.

 

[Madame Psychosis]

bleeding gums is very common in the whole population. and people who still smoke on this forum are disproportionately rare, compared to exclusive vapers, so you can't tell if vaping causes more bleeding gums than cigarettes, statistically.
this poll won't tell you anything about correlation of vaping and bleeding gums, unfortunately. it's "anecdata".

 

[kojo-dosa]

Bleeding gums indicate inflammation, inflammation of the gums are called gingivitis. Now, if gingivitis is concurrent with loss of supporting alveolar bone, then it is called periodontitis.

Anyone can get gingivitis as long as one does not brush his/her teeth for more than 10-20 days. (especially for dental students, Loe et al.1965) But not everyone gets periodontitis. This depends on your immune system's reaction to the source of inflammation, usually or most of the time, due to bacteria.

Now there has been lot of research on smoking and periodontitis, and it is considered a risk factor for periodontitis. But the major problems with these studies is that smokers also tended to have higher levels of plaque than non-smokers.

The most quoted paper on "smoking and periodontitis" is Bergstorm (Sweden 1986) and it claimed two things. First, it claimed that plaque accumulation was similar in smoker and non-smokers (meaning in the other studies, smoking was not the cause of more increased level of plaque, oral hygiene was: This is more of behavioral issue, not biological).

Secondly, more interestingly, it also claimed that smokers tended to have lower levels of bleeding. (The paper claimed that nicotine (or the tobacco smoke) causes vasoconstriction, which slowed or decreased blood flow to the site of inflammation.) This has an important effect, it decreases bleeding, but it also decreases immune response and healing. There are several other papers that back this theory: Smoking causes impaired healing in orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, dental implant surgery, and all aspect of periodontal therapy including non-surgical treatments.

Now, that we got the backround out of the way,
so the reason why one bleeds after quitting tobacco smoke and starting on electronic vapor can be many fold. It could depend on personal oral hygiene care, it could be that bacterial level has increased, it could be that vasoconstriction effect of tobacco smoke is decreasing and your normal bleeding response is beginning to show (this is if another chemical was the major vasoconstrictor in the tobacco smoke, and now we restricted it/them), however if nicotine could still be the major vasoconstrictor and could be that your usage of the electronic cigarette based vapor has lower dose of nicotine than your former analog usage. <-- anything is all speculative.

So this is what I would suggest if you have bleeding gums: brush well, especially around your gum/tooth margin with a SOFT bristle, and floss. Use listerine, or any other OTC mouth rinse you prefer and keep biofilm plaque off your teeth and gums for 10-14 days. If you still have bleeding gum issue after that, you should find a periodontist (or a general dentist because you usually need a referral) and find out exactly why. It could be the initial stages of periodontitis.

hope that helps...

 

[kojo-dosa]

I was reading one of the reply ahead of me, and it said something like "increase blood flow means no periodontitis" <-- This may or may not be true. Increased blood flow and increased immune reaction could also result in periodontitis, this is because when one starts to lose supporting bone around a tooth, it is initiated by your own immune cells and ultimately by osteoclastic activity. Any who, the best way to know for sure is to get rid of oral plaque and see how your body (gums) responds to the change.

One more side note, I've also read something about dry nose and dry mouth symptoms on this forum. From dental/periodontal point of view, this is not good. it's bad. Dry mouth (referred to xerostomia) could increase your risk of dental caries (cavaties) and increased sensitivity of gums and oral mucosa. Saliva is what lubricates your mucosa and kills off some bacteria, and also allows food to go down smoothly. This is all I'm going to write for now.

 

[Madame Psychosis]

Very interesting details kojo-dosa! Thanks.

The dry mouth issue that many have is indeed concerning. Friends who are on medications that cause dry mouth have told me horror stories about how many caries they get -- I guess we non-dentists don't realize how much good saliva does!

(Out of habit, I chew sugarless gum when I'm not vaping and drink a lot of liquids, so I've largely only noticed very dry lips as a side effect.)