Bleeding gums

[Barb723]

After 35 years of smoking, i quit 6 weeks ago. I am handling the cravings. My biggest complaint is bleeding gums. Dentist says its my gums getting back to normal. Anyone else have same experience?

[glolin LONG TERM WINNER]

Hi Barb and a big welcome to Quit Support.

Well done being 6 weeks smoke free

I did not experience the bleeding gums myself but there are a number of members who have also had the same symptom.

Unfortunately there are can be a few bumps in the recovery process and at times, it maybe unbearable, but you will find that none of them last for too long.

It will be worth it in the long run

[Cowbaybc 4 MONTH WINNER]

Yes I too had sore and bleeding gums after a few months it settled down. Dentist said the same thing so no worries your gums are getting healthy a long with everything else. Keep up the good work

[after31years 17 Month Winner]

Morning Barb. Yes yes yes! 8 weeks quit and my gums are still bleeding...... I hacen't been to the dentist about it so I'm glad yours said it was normal for giving up. Stick with it, you're doing grand.....

[Briarwood Administrator Ducky in reply to after31years]

Hiya after, Congratulations on your 8 week quit and well done to you

Looks like you will need a nice new badge x

[LilyMay73 LONG TERM WINNER]

Hi Barb, well done on your 6 week quit, that's brilliant

Lots of people, including me, experience bleeding gums after quitting. My dentist also told me it's perfectly normal and that it was because when you smoke your gums swell so when you give up they start to repair and hence bleed. Making sure I flossed gently helped me you can also find loads of answers to this and other things on the right hand side of the page (I think, I'm on my phone so dont get the whole site) good luck with your quit

[Briarwood Administrator Ducky]

Hiya Barb and welcome to quit support

Congratulations on your 6 week quit, well done

Yep I also had gum problems but it did clear up and it's just your body healing itself x

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hi ya Barb, your 6 weeks quit then your doing a fantastic job and a big warm welcome to our lovely quit smoking forum I see you've had loads of great advice already

There are quite a few members who suffer with bleeding teeth/gums after quitting and I've been searching around and found this, it just may help you to understand why your gums are bleeding and help to relieve this

Teeth & Gums

Now you have quit smoking, you may find that your teeth & gums are sore, or sensitive

Well I've been hunting around the old blogs and have come up with this, it may just help you a little and ease the pain

When you smoked, you were literally smoking your gums and throat. Your gums and tissues built up a crust just like if you were smoking a salmon.

When you quit smoking that old, hard crusty tissue will slough off and in its place you will get new, baby tissue, almost like when a baby is teething.

Only about 1 out of 30 people that quit smoking or chewing get sore mouth, gums and tongue, but if you are affected by this symptom your mouth will feel like it is hot and on fire.

Don't suffer with this symptom. It may last as long as 8 weeks.

A student in one of my Nicotine Solutions classes had to have her dentures relined because there was that much of a change in her gums from quitting smoking.

Try Amosan to relieve sore mouth, gums and tongue. Amosan is a soothing mouth-rinse. It comes in a powder and you mix it with water and rinse with it and then spit it out. It is very soothing and you will be glad you didn't suffer with this symptom.

The active ingredient in Amosan is (or rather was) sodium perborate. When mixed with water, sodium perborate yields borate (which does nothing for your mouth) and HYDROGEN PEROXIDE.

So, simply mix 2tsp/10ml of common first-aid type hydrogen peroxide (10 volume/3% strength) with 2tsp/10ml of warm water. Then rinse exactly as you did with Amosan. DON'T SWALLOW THE MIXTURE! (Read the warnings on the hydrogen peroxide bottle.) I used this myself last time I had a gum inflammation and it worked perfectly (and at a tiny fraction of the price of Amosan!)

As with Amosan you shouldn't eat or drink for 20-30 minutes after rinsing. And make sure you use a fresh bottle of hydrogen peroxide, not one you've had sitting around the medicine cabinet for a couple of years and have been using to dab bloody cuts and scrapes.

For more convenience (plus a minty taste) Colgate now markets a hydrogen peroxide oral rinse under the name Peroxyl. I haven't tried it but it appears to be widely sold across North America and no doubt other regions, and if it isn't available in your area you can buy it on eBay.

Pete

[TerryOR 3 YEAR WINNER]

Yes, it happened to me . I didn't believe it, ( I had heard about it ) my gums were fine, and after stopping my cigarettes it started. I was ready to blame my e-cigarette, but it seems to be getting better. I still have the e-cig. I've always flossed and brushed, but seems to happen after we stop the real cigarettes.

I also had some nausea ( mild) starting the e-cig, but it is gone now.

I do get some headaches, they say drink more liquids. It can be a bit dehydrating.

Still I feel much better than when I smoked.

[danielarnost]

I am dealing with the same issue. Make sure you see a dentist ASAP. The biggest help will be a cleaning. After I quit, I would go to brush and I would bleed so much it looked like I got hit in the mouth with a baseball. My gums started to recede, which can cause serious problems. My dentist did a cleaning, and gave me this Periosciences ProVantage gel (I have no association with this company, it just works... ask your dentist or amazon) and the bleeding almost immediately stopped. They also increased my cleanings to every 3 months (just for two sessions) and went back to normal 6 month cleanings. They also told me I could have avoided gum recession if I had been more diligent about flossing and cleaning. Look up water flossing, oil pulling for extra help.

I don't mean to scare anyone looking to quit!!! Just see your dentist and get advice if you experience this problem and it will go away!!!

[Wirry]

Yes, quite heavy bleeding, more so than the first signs of gingivitis. Still happens after four months of quitting. Funnily enough only once a day - I brush my teeth at least twice a day, sometimes three times - this usually occurs at night time brushing. It might be worth taking iron pills if the loss is significant enough to make you breathless.

[Dizzyjen81 19 Months Winner]

What helped? I quit smoking 3 1/2 months ago and I am having this issue myself. Any advice?

[TheTabbyCat Administrator LONG TERM WINNER in reply to Dizzyjen81]

Hi Dizzy, welcome to quit support. Congratulations for 3 and a half smokefree months..

If you look at the pinned posts you will find information.

The posts are at the top on the right, or at the bottom of the page, depending what device you are using.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer in reply to Dizzyjen81]

Hi ya Dizzyjen81 and welcome to our family and looooook at you goooo, 3 1/2 months smokefreeeeeee , just loving it

Jen, please try Corsodil mouth wash or a weak solution of salt water and maybe a baby toothbrush / soft one It shouldnt last long Perhaps a visit to your dentist, but let them know you have quit smoking

Jen, please let me know your quit date so we can keep your Winners badge upto date and add you to the Wall of Winners

Pete

[Dizzyjen81 19 Months Winner in reply to monky]

8/28/18

[Spideyweb LONG TERM WINNER]

This happening to me too! I stopped smoking cold turkey 7 weeks ago (smoked for 38yrs) and then about 3-4 weeks ago the roof of my mouth and gums (especially on the left side) is all swelling and teeth are sensitive. Went to the dentist last week, and I dunno - are all dentist aware of these issues? He sent me to GP to get antibiotics and get a full xray of my teeth - i left feeling really depressed & sad - there was not even a lil pat on the back for stopping smoking.

I was saying to my son, maybe this dentist has only seen inside rich people's mouth. Is it possible? That a dentist not aware of such things..or have empathy..

I've lived on poverty line pretty much all my life and couldnt afford dentist - still cant.. 75% of my income (govt benefits) goes to rent!

Glad i found this place..it at least soothed me to know others gone thru similar..

[iqbal80 7 MONTH WINNER]

Hi Brb723. I too suffer this problem every time I quit. I do on off. its a struggle. I find that using a soft brush with a mixture of coarse sea salt and baking soda gives me a huge relief. i would grind the sea salt down even more to a powder and mix 1 tea spoon salt and one teaspoon baking soda. use this twice a day...and also floss at least twice a week i hate doing it but this really helped me. I hope it helps you too!

[Nicopheen]

I just quit March 17th (2020) right after my father passed away from a stroke. He was only 56. He was a smoker too but other than that healthy and although smoking wasn't the direct cause it did not help of course. Scared me into the straight and narrow though pretty quick. I'm 32 and started smoking when I was 16 so I basically smoked for 1/2 my life. I just cold turkey quit. Hard time to quit though, very stressful with loosing dad and then all this coronavirus craziness and just super anxiety ridden times so I'm very proud of myself to stick with it and barely even miss it. And I LOVED smoking lol but alas, here I am! I too have noticed the bleeding gums and I have a 6 month cleaning coming up at my dentist so maybe that will help but relieved others experienced the same symptom and it wasn't serious so, phew! Proud of everyone on here for their strength and commitment, it's not easy but so worth it and very rewarding! Good luck all, hang in there. Take care🙌

[Sjor]

So glad i found this page, ive not smoked for what will be 2 weeks tomorrow and my gums are also bleeding quite a lot