I have a small puffy bump on my gum. What is it?

Question:

It is firm, not exactly hard, to the touch, white in color, and is not painful. I read about mouth ulcers, and don't think its one because there is no pain.

Answers:
I'm a dentist.

Obviously, it's difficult to make a diagnosis without seeing the lesion. The reality is that a bump on the gum can be from something as trivial as an ulcer to something as serious as cancer.

Often, however, the kind of lesion I'm guessing you are describing is a papilloma (i.e. a wart), a parulus (basically an infection from a tooth making its way out of the bone), a pyogenic granuloma (an inflammatory response) or a peripheral ossifying fibroma (a neoplasm). These lesions are typically reddish in nature, but can and do become white if they've been there long enough for an adequate thickness of keratin to be built up over them. All of these have to be removed surgically. Your dentist can do it, or he/she may refer you to an oral surgeon to do it. I generally remove these myself.

Pyogenic granulomas are often painful, so I might rule this one out.

Basically, you need to have this lesion examined by a health care professional, preferably a dentist or physician (but your dentist would be more likely to get the diagnosis correct).

An absess. Root canal time.

More Questions and Answers

The consumer health information on youqa.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.

I have a small puffy bump on my gum. What is it?

Health Resources