One of the most common questions asked about the Waterpik is ‘can a Waterpik damage your gums?’. It is a perfectly legitimate question. After all, the Waterpik water flosser is going to be shooting a high-powered stream of water directly at your gums. However, the answer is ‘no’. Why? Well, that is what we are going to talk about in this blog post.
When was the last time you flossed?
A lot of the time, people who ask ‘can Waterpik damage gums?’ are asking because they noticed that their gums were bleeding a little bit shortly after they used their Waterpik. However, this is not something that is necessarily down to the water flosser.
If you haven’t flossed recently, your gums are going to be incredibly sensitive. They may even be small amounts of plaque and bacteria stuck beneath the gum line. This means that when you aim the water flosser towards them, they are going to bleed. Over time, the bleeding will lessen. In fact, various studies have shown this. As you start to clear out the bacteria and plaque with your Waterpik water flosser, you will notice that the bleeding no longer occurs. In fact, your gums will start to get healthier. You may even notice less tooth pain throughout the day, mostly because you no longer have anything disturbing the tooth below the gum line.
How Do You Deal With The Bleeding?
Sadly, there is not a whole lot that you will be able to do to stem the bleeding. If your gums are going to bleed, they are going to bleed. However, we can assure you that unless you have never flossed, there is not going to be that much in the way of bleeding. Your saliva will eventually wash it away, or you can use a small piece of tissue paper to wipe the blood up. Your gums will eventually stop bleeding.
They normally only do it during the process of flossing. It will only take a few cleans with your Waterpik water flosser to stop them bleeding completely, so don’t worry too much about the blood. You may also want to see if your water flosser has a ‘massage mode’ which can help to ease a bit of pain.
There are, however, a few things you can do to reduce the chance of bleeding.
How to floss with your Waterpik correctly
When people ask the question ‘can Waterpik damage gums’, they tend to ask about the Waterpik in general. What we can tell you is that the Waterpik can cause some gum damage if it is not used correctly. It won’t be serious gum damage. Just a little bit of pain. However, this is something which normally occurs. It occurs when you first start to use the Waterpik water flosser. The slight discomfort will eventually start to subside.
It is absolutely vital that you do not use cold water inside of your Waterpik water flosser. It needs to be warm water (not too hot!). When the water is too cold, it will trigger sensitivity in your gums and teeth. This could result in an unpleasant experience. You aren’t necessarily damaging your gums, but you are certainly setting yourself up for a bit of pain for the next thirty-minutes or so.
Getting Started The Right Way
If you are just starting to floss with the water flosser, then you will also want to ensure that you turn the Waterpik pressure settings down to the lowest. If you go too high, then you will cause yourself pain. Again, you are not going to be permanently damaging your gums. However, you will be in pain for a short while after. A lot of people will work their way up from the lowest pressure setting. It becomes much easier once they are used to how the Waterpik works. Most of the popular water flossers in their range will have 5-10 pressure settings on them. Use these settings to find what works best for you.
Make sure that you angle the Waterpik gproperly too. This is something which you will need to tinker with. You will want to just target beneath the gum line and between the teeth. You shouldn’t be pointing the water flosser directly at your gums. This will cause a lot of discomfort.
So there you have it. The answer to your question. There may be a little bit of pain at the start, but if you use your Waterpik correctly, there will be no lasting damage. So, if anybody asks you ‘can Waterpik damage gums’ in the future, you only have to say ‘no, not if you use it properly’.
