It’s not uncommon to get a small piece of food stuck between your teeth when you eat. In most cases, it comes free on its own. However, there are other times when you might get a tough piece of food, like a meat fiber or popcorn hull, uncomfortably stuck in your gums. This could be even worse if you have a bad habit of biting your nails or chewing on foreign objects. In a situation like this, your dentist, Dr. Josh Walker, offers these insights for safely removing something from your gums.
Even if you’re feeling distress and pain, you need to keep a cool head. Acting irrationally can sometimes turned a minor problem into something more significant.
You should never use toothpicks or sharp, pointed tools to pry the object out of your gumline. This could seriously injure your gums or chip a tooth. If your gums are bleeding, rinsing your mouth with lukewarm saltwater can help soothe wounded gum tissues. This might also loosen the object.
Should rinsing fail to loosen it from your gums, you should reach for waxed dental floss. The waxy coating on the strand can help it slide in into the gumline smoothly. Be sure not to force the floss into place as it could seriously injure your gums.
If you have a water flosser, like Waterpik®, the concentrated stream of water might jostle or loosen the object from the gums.
If you still can’t easily remove the object, you should call Family & Implant Dentistry at 785-539-5949 to have it safely removed. Your dentist in Manhattan, Kansas, is happy to help you!