If you're diabetic, bleeding of your gums while eating, brushing, or flossing might be a sign of infection. Because of your condition, even mild infections can be serious business, and these symptoms shouldn't be ignored.

Blood glucose levels are of utmost importance; keeping them under control is the best way to prevent tooth and gum disease. People with diabetes are more susceptible to gum infection and, conversely, a gum infection makes controlling diabetes very difficult. Periodontal disease also takes longer to resolve in diabetics.

Therefore, do your best to prevent the infection with proper dental hygiene habits.

Those who are diabetic and have dentures should be even more careful. Poorly fitted dentures could compound the bleeding problem, so be sure that dentures feel comfortable.

If you're diabetic, talk to us about how to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Dry brushing might be the technique of the future. In a recent study, people who dry brushed their teeth had a 60 percent decrease in tartar buildup and a 50 percent decrease in occurrences of bleeding gums when compared with normal wet brushing.

Proper dry brushing begins with a soft-bristled toothbrush. (If the bristles feel stiff, run your finger across the top of the brush instead of putting it under the faucet.)

Brush the insides and outsides of your teeth, each for about 45 seconds. Rinse your mouth with water, and dab a little toothpaste on the brush. Give your teeth a 30 second brush with the toothpaste in order to get the benefits of fluoride and some polishing. Rinse your mouth and the brush, and voila!

You've just dry brushed.