Periodontal treatment

IntoTheAshtray

Here's my story:

My teeth, and specifically my gums, aren't in great shape and haven't been for quite some time. Finally mustered up the courage to see a dentist today, who, as well as removing a decayed tooth, appeared concerned at the state of my gums. As a result, he's going to see me over 4 sessions for deep cleaning. Here's the thing: I can deal with pain, that's fine - but I'm absolutely terrified - I can see a depression coming in - that I've left it too late. My teeth are not loose, but I know the gums have receded somewhat. When examing them, he noted many of them were a 6 - I assume this was referring to the length of recession they had encountered? What I'm dying to know is, will it be managable? I'm willing to put my fears aside and do my utmost to salvage what I can. But have I left it too late? Any replies - via PM or just by replying to this thread - would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Just keep wishing all of this would go away.

Thank you,
Mark

allgirlz

Hi Mark,

I am undergoing periodontal treatment at the moment, am a bit of an overexcited tooth brusher and that combined with avoiding the dentist for a few years and genetic issues meant that my gums were not the best. I have had my 2 intensive cleans and also need a gum graft for my front tooth. The cleaning was unpleasant with the scraping etc but not painful as I was numbed up and anytime I so much as grimaced he gave me more local Bit sore afterwards but nothing major. I have a new regimen now with interdental brushes, floss, different toothpaste and mouthwash. My teeth feel a lot better, i am presuming that it is a periodontist you are going to? The cost for me was €400 for the two cleans (either side of mouth) and then another €400 for the grafting, so not cheap but hopefully worth it in the long run. Don't worry you are taking the correct steps now and with treatments nowdays it may take some time but I am sure you will get there. Try not to get too stressed out about it all, dentistry has changed for the better!

Idrive

Hi Mark,

You have almost the exact same story as myself
I went to the dentist last week, after a very long chat with myself.
Ive googled the life out of periodontal treatment now, and somedays i feel able to cope with it and the expense and other days, im very low about it.

I seem to have suffered a mental block these past few years, all the time was spent examining my teeth, but not looking at what my gums had been doing. I have had two dental cleans and she has told me about this 6mm pocket on one or two of my back teeth. She has advised that i see a peridontist, in an effort to save my teeth in later life. Im 34 now and a non smoker, so she was quite shocked at the advancement.
I have a gap in my lower front teeth and also have one quite loose tooth in the back.

I dont know what to say, only that you are now alone...
My sister is a nurse and has advised me to take some Vit C and some Q10 supplements. Im also on a medicated mouthwash and flossing every day.
Hopefully i will see an improvement, but it looks like a long road ahead, with no 100% guarantees.

newwifey

What's gum grafting?
I need to see a periodontist and my stomach flips at the very thought of it. Apart from the financial implications, I have a mortal fear of the dentist.

Oral Surgeon

Hi Mark,

All is not lost if you have gum disease...
The problems with this type of chronic grumbling type of infection is that it slowly (or quickly in some cases) does it's damage and usually causes no pain- so patients don't know of the problem and do nothing about it.

There are a load of co-factors in this disease (smoking, diabetes etc) but essentially the cause is a combination of plaque left on the teeth causing inflammation and your own immune system reacting to that plaque. The body and gums don't like this well of bugs and through inflammation-the gum and underlying bone are resorbed away creating pockets beside the teeth or longer looking teeth. If left unchecked, this process continues until the amount of tooth root in bone is less than ideal and the tooth becomes loose. Some patients may get an acute flare up of infection if bugs cause infection deep in one of these pockets....

Positive points;
The teeth are not loose, so you're not likely to be in the severe grouping...

Ask your dentist if he/she would grade you as having a generalized or localized problem, then ask if it is mild, moderate or severe. You might get an answer like "generalized mild gum disease but moderate/severe gum disease in one location". This lets you gauge the problem etc...

Bottom line is you need to address this;
You first need a professional cleaning with you dentist. This may need to be done in segments under local anesthetic as the deep pockets will need deep cleaning which can be uncomfortable without the LA....
Just like you can't valet your car twice a year and expect it to stay clean- you need to get better at cleaning your own mouth- this involves a proper 2-3 minute brush with floss or mini interdental brushes. Despite this, these pockets may be near impossible for you to keep clean so you need to maintain your regular scale and polish with your dentist. Most dentists will keep a close eye on you with a 3 month recall until they are confident that your cleaning is up to scratch and then maybe move you to a 6 month recall...

This treatment is meant to halt progressing of gum disease destruction, it will not grow gum or bone again for you. There are expensive, fancy and often fairly unpredictable methods of regrowing lost tissues but these are not for someone with uncontrolled disease....

Do the simple stuff first.

Good luck,
OS

IntoTheAshtray

Thanks very much, folks. I experienced some mild anxiety attacks this morning, to the point where I was shaking and close to meltdown; I know that my situation could be far, far worse - but there's something truly awful about being too late. Anyway, to settle myself down I decided to ring my dentist.

He stated:
* I have what he would call 'moderate' periodontitis.
* He says it's totally treatable if I go through 4 deep cleaning sessions and come back for regular check-ups after.
*He said my teeth weren't in danger of falling out at any time soon. To stress this, he said without any treatment my teeth would not have loosened for maybe another year or two.
*My pockets are 4s/5s/6s, but he also stated that when reading them the sixes might not actually be so deep; he attributed this to the fact that part of my upper gum is highly inflamed/puffed out.
*He stressed to not worry about it as, going by the x ray. my bone structure was still fairly sturdy. Maybe it's because I'm only twenty three?


So, taking that into account, would be it fair to say I've a more than decent chance of getting through this? I'm highly committed to doing my utmost to defeat it: I'll brush and floss and totally pack in sweets/fizzy drinks.

Any further comment would be greatly appreciated. My first session of deep cleaning will take place next Tuesday. One little thing: will the nature of my mouth/gumline look much different afterwards, or will it just be slight bleeding/swelling?

Your replies have helped me vastly. Psrticularly yours, OS.