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Comment by onlyrealcuzzo | Hacker News Reader

On the flip side, don't brush your gums too much with an electric toothbrush.

I destroyed my gums when my parents got me an electric toothbrush when I was 13 - and AFAIK - there's still not really any way to repair it.

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong! Would make my day to be wrong.

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I used to brush and avoid touching my gums.. then I had a dentist insist I should also be brushing across my gum lines to keep them healthy. So, not sure if you went crazy with the electric, or if maybe it was something else? Also, not sure if you called 5 dentists if you'd get 1, or more than 1 opinion on this. But I am told I have healthy gyms and I do brush over the line between tooth and gum.

My guess would be too much pressure and too much focus on the gums. Get all the way to the gums but don't brush directly on them, just angle the tip to barely touch the gums.

I don't know if this will work, depending if they're scarred or open, gelatine might work, add to warm water until dissolved, then keep in mouth for a while then swallow - I used to have reflux, gelatine helped a lot - it's also good for joint-pain (if u still have jelly in the joints that can be replenished)

I'm sorry this doesn't sound plausible - any links you could share? How does gelatine repair gums, or travel from your stomach to your joints without being broken down somewhere along the way?

Here's one thing I learned over the decades: if you have a problem you can't fix, it is worth just trying people's random ideas even if they sound kooky IF they are cheap and harmless.

Usually kooky ideas do nothing, but every now and then one works for no explicable reason.

I always thought I was a scientist by needing to understand a magnetism before trying, but actually real science is often just trying a bunch of random solutions, finding what works, and only then trying to work out mechanism!

Testing and keeping an open mind is a worthwhile mindset, even if you only get the occasional win.

One thing I've learned over the decades is that my time is finite and precious to me and I don't want to waste it on weird tricks that have no basis in reality, so I don't think there's any harm in asking.

To each their own!

Absolutely agree - time is irreplaceable precious. But a healthy body that allows you to enjoy your time is also irreplaceably precious. Everything is a balancing act between areas of global and local ignorance: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YABJKJ3v97k9sbxwg/what-money...

You said you have a serious ongoing problem, and aszantu‘s suggestion sounds unrelated, but the cost of trying is low, and nurturing the attitude that you may be able to fix things is worthwhile. You seem to have diagnosed the cause as one thing, but perhaps there are other causes too.

I had a problem with bleeding gums (nothing like yours), and Google results suggested lots of different diagnoses and solutions. I tried a few different ideas that were low cost (time, effort, $, risk) and one worked for me. YMMV. Good luck.

PS: “understand a magnetism” — damn you autocorrect — understand a mechanism.

Just a small note of correction that you have me confused with another poster; I fortunately don't have a serious gum problem.

Ooops, sorry. Cheers.

Yeah, this! Also, if you still use manual brush (don't), use soft bristle and be gental. Harder is not better when it comes to tooth brushing. Don't do what you typically see in movies.

As for your gums, they don't grow back I believe, but you can get surgery of sorts by using other parts of your mouth and stick them in your gums. See; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF6EgSM5TlA

Same here. Nothing to do as stopping the hard brushing stopped recession progress and gum graft is a heavy, expensive procedure that definitely leaves marks on the gums. It also makes me queasy knowing you’re basically getting gums grafted from a donor who died. Mine are recessed enough that it can get painful brushing after eating too acidic foods but not enough to justify the procedure. For acidic foods, I rinse my mouth with baking soda dissolved in water right after eating and it helps a lot. Dentists can also apply fluoride to the exposed parts but it tastes horrible while they do it, and only lasts a few weeks before it’s gone.

If you can get it, try use some Biomin F toothpaste for a good few weeks. I've got exposed parts of lower teeth too due to over brushing. This toothpaste goes a looong way to reducing sensitivity to near zero levels.

If it's gum recession, you could try talking to a periodontist about a gum graft.

Pretty sure they can do a gum graft by taking piece of the roof of your mouth

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