What To Do When Cuts in Gums Don't Heal Properly

What To Do When Cuts in Your Gum Don't Heal

If you have a stubborn sore or cut on your gums that persists longer than a week or two, it likely requires some professional care. Lingering gum cuts that won't heal can lead to much bigger oral health issues if left untreated.

Common Causes of Cuts in the Gum Tissue

Lacerations anywhere in mouth tend to heal quickly thanks to abundant blood circulation. But certain factors cause more traumatic cuts that damage the gums surrounding teeth. Typical sources of hard-to-heal cuts include:

• Sharp food fragments like chips or beef jerky
• Poking with a sharp object like a fish bone
• Brushing too aggressively
• Sports injuries or blows to the mouth
• Oral surgery procedures like tooth extractions

The location of the cut also impacts severity. Cuts high on the gumline near the base of teeth often appear deeper and bleed more profusely. This delays healing.

Signs Your Gum Cut Requires Attention

Minor gum irritation typically resolves within a week or two as the wound closes up. But with deeper lacerations, you may notice:

• Bleeding when brushing days later
• Throbbing pain persisting over a week
• A hard lump forming from trapped debris
• Bad breath from food trapped in the cut

These signs indicate trapped bacteria and trouble healing. At this point the injury risks infection or more extensive tissue damage if not treated properly.

The Trouble with Lingering Gum Cuts

Like anywhere in the mouth, open cuts in your gums provide an entry point for bacteria. Hundreds of microbial species naturally live in oral biofilms coating teeth and tissues.

Normally your immune system keeps these populations in balance. But deeper traumatic lesions can become infiltrated by bacteria in ways that prevent healing and trigger secondary infections. Possible complications from cuts in gums include:

• Painful abscesses in gum tissue
• Swelling spreading to other teeth
• Bone damage eroding tooth sockets
• Enlarged lymph nodes with sepsis risk

Bacteria may also seep into the bloodstream through cuts, leading to infection spread internally or at distant body sites.

When to Seek Emergency Dental Care

If your lingering gum cut worsens or involves any of the following, seek urgent dental treatment or maxillofacial medical care:

• Sustained bleeding not controlled with pressure
• Expanding redness, swelling or pus discharge
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing
• Severe throbbing pain unrelieved by OTC medication
• Fever over 101 F, chills or body aches

You may need antibiotics, wound debridement, or intravenous treatment for infection spread if you exhibit these emergency warning signs.

Treating Persistent Gum Cuts & Lacerations at Home

Before an unhealed mouth cut progresses to something needing urgent care, try addressing it with dedicated at-home treatment first. Use the following methods to support recovery:

Control Bleeding & Clean Debris

For fresh cuts, rinse vigorously with saline solution or hydrogen peroxide to flush out food particles, bacteria and toxins. Apply firm pressure with damp gauze or a tea bag for 10 full minutes to stop bleeding.

Protect it from Re-injury

Avoid eating sharp, crunchy or acidic foods temporarily as these can re-injure healing cuts. Be gentle brushing and flossing around the area too. Soft foods help reduce damage risk while the gum tissue mends.

Use Antimicrobial Rinses

Gently swish over-the-counter antiseptic mouthwashes like cetylpyridinium chloride or essential oil blends for 30-60 seconds twice a day. These solutions disrupt bacterial growth stalling wound closure.

Apply Healing Ointments

Dab breath-friendly gels containing antioxidants, aloe vera, vitamin E or antimicrobial honey on the cut 1-2 times per day after meals and before bed. These provide building blocks to rebuild damaged gum tissue faster.

Take Supportive Supplements

Boosting internal healing with a multivitamin plus vitamin C, zinc and vitamin K2 optimizes blood clotting and tissue regeneration involved in sealing cuts.

While home care measures buy time for recovery, failing to progress warrants a dental visit to prevent graver complications.

Professional Treatment Options for Severe Gum Cuts & Lacerations

If properly disinfected and protected, less traumatic scissor-sliced gum cuts can mend on their own. But clinical intervention quickens recovery from deeper lesions while warding off infections in at-risk sites.

Prescription Antibiotics

Your dentist may prescribe oral or topical antibiotics to apply on the gum cut if you exhibit:

• Sustained inflammation & redness
• Pus seepage suggesting infection
• Enlarged sore lymph nodes
• Systemic symptoms like fever & fatigue

Antibiotics combat problematic bacterial colonies compromising local healing and spreading risk.

Specialized Medicated Dressings

Slow-closing wounds often benefit from medicated gel or putty dressings placed inside the cut. These provide a protective barrier while eluting antibiotics and collagen-stimulating drugs right into damaged tissue.

Quick-dissolving options later allow bracing stitches if the wound fails to contract adequately.

Surgical Debridement

Numbing you up, your dentist may pick debris from cuts with scalers or iris scissors followed by flushing with sterile water. Removing trapped microbes and foreign material preps the area for accelerated re-epithelialization.

Laser Therapy

Advanced dental offices may offer low-level laser treatments to cuts resistant to healing. Calibrated wavelengths reduce inflammation while stimulating blood vessel and connective tissue regeneration.

This photobiomodulation process kickstarts circulatory processes critical for sealing lesions.

Suturing the Gum Tissue

For stubborn incisions and flap tears, precisely aligned dissolving or regular sutures speed closure to protect underlying bone and nerves. Secured tissue also generates less scarring.

Stitches get removed once sufficient binding occurs, usually within 1-2 weeks.

Preventing Future Cuts & Lacerations

While treatment focuses on the current gum injury, avoiding recurrences means addressing what caused the traumatic cut in the first place. This may involve:

• Getting sharp fillings or edges smoothed
• Adjusting overly vigorous brushing technique
• Wearing mouthguards during contact sports
• Removing problematic wisdom teeth
• Chewing slowly and carefully especially if dentures slip

Paying attention to irritation early on also helps curtail progression into worsening wounds. Heeding warning signs like hot/cold sensitivity flags requisite dental work before extensive damage develops.

Committing to smarter oral care protects your gum health over the long run.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.