I’ve just returned from the periodontist and the news isn’t good. Severe bone loss, particularly on top. Not enough bone to support bridges and she told that there was no way to go under the gums and clean because the teeth would fall out as they are mostly supported by gum tissue.
I’ve done a little bit of googling and some places do offer alternatives to pulling back the gums and scraping underneath, which seems to be a pretty primitive treatment method. Maybe I’m to the point where I’m past non-surgical treatments but I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience here.
At the moment I can eat whatever I want without discomfort and I have no bleeding or soreness and I’m not ready to have my teeth pulled and dentures put in, which is what they wanted to do. Today.
There is a concern with bacterial in general which possibly can increase the chance of a heart attack but I’m not sure how well established that link is.
For the record I’m 45 and this is all my fault, for years I didn’t floss or have regular dental visits and cleanings. I’ve now become somewhat fanatical and carry a toothbrush with me to work and when out to restaurants, I just hope it’s not too late.
My sympathies. I, too, have had “disappointing” visits with the periodontist.
For what it’s worth, I have talked to friends who had the gum-flap surgery, and while it doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend an afternoon, it’s apparently less brutal than it sounds.
Your profile doesn’t say where you’re located, but if you’re in Canada, you might check out Periowave. www. periowave. com
I’ve had two Periowave treatments, and it’s utterly painless. They squirt blue water-like fluid around your gum-line and then hold a little light over the area. Simple as the procedure is, it’s made a difference in my own receding middle-aged gums.
If you’re in the U.S., there may be some sort of similar technology.
That’s the sort of thing I’m looking for. My dental office doesn’t offer any treatments other than the traditional ones and gum flap surgery is not an option, the teeth would fall out.
My gums have not receeded a tremendous amount, not so you could tell when I smile and if I can bring them back a little that should stabilize them more. I see Periowave is supposed to clean out a lot of bacteria. For the moment that’s my primary concern, my teeth are not going to fall out in the near future
I’m hoping if I can delay things my insurance will cover implants at some point.
Not to rain on your parade, but if you don’t have the bone structure to support a bridge, I don’t see how you’d have enough for implants unless they did bone grafts.
Anyway, good luck! Gum disease sucks – I was lucky enough to get mine caught early enough to do something about it.
Here is the US we have Biolase/Waterlase. I’m not entirely sure if they’re like the Periowave that Portwest mentioned. Biolase is basically a painless, bacteria-killing laser. We use it on our perio cases, but as a part of the cleaning/check-up regimen after they’ve done the initial deep cleaning.
TheDerf, she definitely said I could have implants, I think bridges are mostly supported by the surrounding teeth. One option could be to get a couple of implants at a time.
Nope. If I remember correctly, I’d had a check-up and routine cleaning about a month or so prior to the treatment. The dental team had also measured my gum pockets.
Three months after the Periowave treatment, they measured the pockets again, and they had shrunk notably.