# Do you massage your gums? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018 "2017-02-28T09:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fruitbat2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Fruitbat2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fruitbat2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/1 "2017-02-28T09:30:38Z")
(to help prevent gum pockets). A dentist told me to do this decades ago and I do, and it works. But I have never heard anyone else mention it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/2 "2017-02-28T11:25:01Z")
No, out of concern for the whole “happy ending” thing. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/3 "2017-02-28T11:36:05Z")
I used to, but the New Age pseudo-Native American flute music and gentle Buddhist temple bells music simply got too boring. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/4 "2017-02-28T11:37:31Z")
But seriously, folks…I’ve never heard of this. I’ll ask my dentist about it next time I see her. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/5 "2017-02-28T14:17:04Z")
… what the hell is a gum pocket? I brush my gums a little when I brush my teeth to stimulate the tissue, theoretically helping fight recession of the gums. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/6 "2017-02-28T15:43:02Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > … what the hell is a gum pocket? > > I brush my gums a little when I brush my teeth to stimulate the tissue, theoretically helping fight recession of the gums. A space (gap) that results from the recession you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/7 "2017-02-28T16:45:10Z")
Mine? No. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/8 "2017-02-28T16:53:52Z")
Maybe about once a week, when it occurs to me, because I’m aware that it should be done, but would be needless every day. No idea if it’s ever had any effect, one way or the other, but it probably doesn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/9 "2017-02-28T17:41:17Z")
No, but my dentist gave me a topical anesthetic and scraped the hell out of my gums just a few hours ago. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/10 "2017-02-28T17:49:08Z")
Did anybody else read that as “guns”? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/11 "2017-02-28T17:58:07Z")
When I was a kid the orthodontist gave me a pointy rubber-tipped thing but no one ever explained to me what it was or what it was for, so I never used it. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/12 "2017-02-28T23:58:21Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Did anybody else read that as “guns”? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/13 "2017-03-01T03:15:36Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When I was a kid the orthodontist gave me a pointy rubber-tipped thing but no one ever explained to me what it was or what it was for, so I never used it. I’ve got one from my dentist and am supposed to use it to massage my gums. Of course, I’m supposed to do a lot of things. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Fruitbat2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Fruitbat2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fruitbat2)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/14 "2017-03-01T03:19:45Z")
I have seen the rubber-tipped thing but really don’t know how it would be very effective. The idea, if you tend to get gum pockets (and the toothaches they cause) is to start at the top and apply a lot of pressure all the way down. It hits the gum pockets and smashes them when floss alone doesn’t do it. Fingers work, not a tool. (Yes, I know it is gross). ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/15 "2017-03-01T05:21:33Z")
My dentist gave me “a rubber tip” which I dutifully put in the medicine cabinet to be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Fruitbat2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Fruitbat2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fruitbat2)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/16 "2017-03-01T05:37:46Z")
> [@Fruitbat2](#): > > I have seen the rubber-tipped thing but really don’t know how it would be very effective. The idea, if you tend to get gum pockets (and the toothaches they cause) is to start at the top and apply a lot of pressure all the way down. It hits the gum pockets and smashes them when floss alone doesn’t do it. Fingers work, not a tool. (Yes, I know it is gross). By “start at the top,” I mean near the roof of your mouth for the top teeth and the side nearest your chin for the bottom teeth. Either front and back separately or both sides at once, and apply pressure with your hands. If anyone uses that weird rubber tip thing from the dentist, please let me know what it’s for because it just wouldn’t do the type of gum massage I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/17 "2017-03-01T14:40:31Z")
> [@Fruitbat2](#): > > If anyone uses that weird rubber tip thing from the dentist, please let me know what it’s for because it just wouldn’t do the type of gum massage I’m talking about. It’s to stimulate blood flow in the gums between the teeth and disrupt the bacteria that are trying to do bad things to your gums. Same with the balsa strips and of course flossing in part. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/18 "2017-03-01T19:47:08Z")
Every day. Just mash the rubber tip in where the teeth meet at the gum line and massage. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/19 "2017-03-02T05:46:48Z")
> [@Fruitbat2](#): > > (to help prevent gum pockets). A dentist told me to do this decades ago and I do, and it works. But I have never heard anyone else mention it. I have one extremely vague memory of something like this, but that was when I was very young, circa 1960. But I have no other memory of doing it, and no other dentist has ever referred to any such practice. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-massage-your-gums/781018/20 "2017-03-02T18:17:37Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Mine? No. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. Your hourly rate is getting a little outrageous.