dentist West Hartford CT - How Aspirin Can Hurt Your Gums if it Touches Your Gums | Elmwood Dental Group
How Aspirin Can Hurt Your Gums if it Touches Your Gums
Aspirin is a great over the counter medication. It can help many different types of pain. It is a good way to prevent heart problems later in life.
While it is a very effective medication, it also carries some risks. One area that is at risk from aspirin is your gums. It will surprise many to find out the impact of aspirin touching your gums. For anyone that takes aspirin, learning the issues this can cause is important.
Most people think of aspirin as something they take when they have a headache. They probably do not realize what aspirin is and why it helps relieve their headache, they are just happy it works. The clinical name for aspirin is Acetylsalicylic Acid. While the acetylsalicylic is not an important when talking about the impact that aspirin as on the gums, the acid part does matter.
Many people that take aspirin or that take too much aspirin end up dealing with heartburn. This is due to the acid in aspirin. Acid will burn tissue. It is the burning of tissue that people refer to as heartburn.
Gum tissue is a soft tissue. When aspirin comes in contact with the gum tissue, it will burn the tissue. If the tissue has enough damage from the acid in the aspirin, it can lead to more problems.
The most common thing that we see when it comes to aspirin use is when people put aspirin on a toothache to relieve the pain. While it may provide some relief, it also burns the gums. We will see the residue from the burns.
Instead of turning to aspirin to relieve tooth pain or if you are in the habit of letting the aspirin dissolve in your mouth, turn to other methods to manage pain. Non-aspirin pain relievers can take the place of aspirin. For those that take a low dose aspirin, make sure you swallow it instead of letting it dissolve.
Call or visit our office to get additional answers to these, and other questions.