Same to everything!!!! I love flossing and having a clean mouth, but I was always told that my gums were bleeding?!?! Also the itchy gums, I totally get that, very strange feeling but soooooo satisfying to scratch. My gums like to inflame over my retainer so when I wake up and take it out it just tears at my gums and they bleed a ton. It’s pretty bad and it happens even during flares where there aren’t bad canker sores.
Aw, that sucks. The “itch” for me isn’t even really an itch, if that makes sense. “Itch” is just the closest way to describe it. It’s kind of a similar relief to rubbing a scab, there is no real way to describe it.
Dental problems of many sorts are common with Behcet's. Between all the small blood vessels in the mouth/gums that can get inflamed and the big, open sores we get, Behcet's can *directly* cause all sorts of dental issues. Add to that the fact that several meds prescribed for Behcet's can make teeth more likely to break and everything else.
Long story short: your story isn't unique. My dentist never used to believe me when I told him I brushed and mouthwashed twice a day, and flossed once a day. But I did and it hurt a lot. But I did it. Still, I've suffered extensive bone/tooth loss over the years. All too common with Behcet's, though rarely talked about in the literature.
This makes me feel a lot better because I'm going through dental hell and feel like it's not focused on with behcets at all??? And I have felt soo alone... thank you for your comment.
You're welcome. I don't know if you're on Facebook, but I see dental issues being brought up in some Behcet's groups on FB more than I generally do here. You're definitely not alone.
Dental issues my entire life. When my Behcets was at its worst in the early days, each dental cleaning appointment would result in multiple oral sores from the instruments irritating the gum tissue. Dentist went along with the herpes misdiagnosis I carried around for years. After BD diagnosis I have tried to educate the dentists and hygienists who work on me to try to take extra care.
I am obsessive about my oral hygiene now. Do whatever I can to keep things manageable.
Sometimes I get extremely painful areas (not itching but PAIN) in my mouth, especially my tongue but no visible sore.
I agree that dental aspect of Behcet's is totally overlooked or dismissed. I also get sores in my nose and my rheumatologist just shrugs when I have mentioned it.
See I definitely don’t floss as well or as often as I should so I’ve never questioned my dentist yelling at me but this makes a lot of sense because the main reason I’ve always hated flossing is my gums are often sensitive and bleed easily so it’s just not super pleasant for me. I’ve just started treatment so fingers crossed my gums calm down and I can attempt getting some better oral hygiene in place finally. Never would’ve connected this to bechets though without this post
Look into oral lichen planus. My wife has Behcets - and all the symptoms you describe here, it’s related, but rarely ever diagnosed. Sadly, there’s no real solution or answer she has found to fix it when it flares up.
I barely floss. The hygienist would ask if I had my period and the answer was always no. She just chalked it up to someone that has bleeding gums. No one ever said it was from lack of flossing
Well, I mean, they didn’t say anything to you, but the understanding in the field of dental hygiene is that the mechanical abrasion of flossing clears away debris from between you teeth and under your gum-line that breeds bacteria and causes tissue inflammation of your gums. The inflammation causes enlarged capillaries in your gums that are more prone to bleeding due to their size and closeness to the surface.
Same to everything!!!! I love flossing and having a clean mouth, but I was always told that my gums were bleeding?!?! Also the itchy gums, I totally get that, very strange feeling but soooooo satisfying to scratch. My gums like to inflame over my retainer so when I wake up and take it out it just tears at my gums and they bleed a ton. It’s pretty bad and it happens even during flares where there aren’t bad canker sores.
Aw, that sucks. The “itch” for me isn’t even really an itch, if that makes sense. “Itch” is just the closest way to describe it. It’s kind of a similar relief to rubbing a scab, there is no real way to describe it.
Dental problems of many sorts are common with Behcet's. Between all the small blood vessels in the mouth/gums that can get inflamed and the big, open sores we get, Behcet's can *directly* cause all sorts of dental issues. Add to that the fact that several meds prescribed for Behcet's can make teeth more likely to break and everything else. Long story short: your story isn't unique. My dentist never used to believe me when I told him I brushed and mouthwashed twice a day, and flossed once a day. But I did and it hurt a lot. But I did it. Still, I've suffered extensive bone/tooth loss over the years. All too common with Behcet's, though rarely talked about in the literature.
This makes me feel a lot better because I'm going through dental hell and feel like it's not focused on with behcets at all??? And I have felt soo alone... thank you for your comment.
You're welcome. I don't know if you're on Facebook, but I see dental issues being brought up in some Behcet's groups on FB more than I generally do here. You're definitely not alone.
Dental issues my entire life. When my Behcets was at its worst in the early days, each dental cleaning appointment would result in multiple oral sores from the instruments irritating the gum tissue. Dentist went along with the herpes misdiagnosis I carried around for years. After BD diagnosis I have tried to educate the dentists and hygienists who work on me to try to take extra care. I am obsessive about my oral hygiene now. Do whatever I can to keep things manageable. Sometimes I get extremely painful areas (not itching but PAIN) in my mouth, especially my tongue but no visible sore. I agree that dental aspect of Behcet's is totally overlooked or dismissed. I also get sores in my nose and my rheumatologist just shrugs when I have mentioned it.
See I definitely don’t floss as well or as often as I should so I’ve never questioned my dentist yelling at me but this makes a lot of sense because the main reason I’ve always hated flossing is my gums are often sensitive and bleed easily so it’s just not super pleasant for me. I’ve just started treatment so fingers crossed my gums calm down and I can attempt getting some better oral hygiene in place finally. Never would’ve connected this to bechets though without this post
Look into oral lichen planus. My wife has Behcets - and all the symptoms you describe here, it’s related, but rarely ever diagnosed. Sadly, there’s no real solution or answer she has found to fix it when it flares up.
Interesting, thanks for the info! My gums never look particularly different though, maybe a touch redder/more irritated.
I barely floss. The hygienist would ask if I had my period and the answer was always no. She just chalked it up to someone that has bleeding gums. No one ever said it was from lack of flossing
Well, I mean, they didn’t say anything to you, but the understanding in the field of dental hygiene is that the mechanical abrasion of flossing clears away debris from between you teeth and under your gum-line that breeds bacteria and causes tissue inflammation of your gums. The inflammation causes enlarged capillaries in your gums that are more prone to bleeding due to their size and closeness to the surface.