I didn’t take very good care of my teeth until 6 months ago so I have had problems with decay and mild gum inflammation. Ever since then I have been brushing 2x a day and using floss, anticavity rinse, tongue brushes and listerine one time a day. My teeth are in much better shape as far as decay goes however I haven’t had much improvement in gum inflammation, I still have mild gingivitis. This isn’t really dangerous or bad as most people have mild gingivitis and it isn’t going to cause my teeth to fall out anytime soon but there hasn’t been much improvement over the last 6 months even with improved oral hygiene. The dentist said to ‘keep doing what I’m doing’ with flossing and brushing but it doesn’t appear to be working very well.
If you have had this, what worked for you to reverse it? Did you use water picks, or new brushing methods, antibacterial toothpaste, listerine 2-3x a day instead of one or what?
Did he give you some Periomed? It’s a prescription rinse you use once a day that helps gingivitis. It’s expensive (about $20 a bottle), but it does help. If you can afford it, you might also try for a four-month schedule of cleanings for a while. That’s what my dentist does. Once our teeth and gums are in good shape, they back off to six-month schedules.
Also expensive, but you might ask your dentist about having a root planing done. It’s not pleasant but it’s very effective and you only need to get one about every 5 years, or not again at all, if you are maintaining well.
Also, do ask about the Periomed. That’s what our dentist gives my husband, who still has to watch out, even though he flosses after every meal and snack. (A habit left over from his days as a 35-year-old with braces.)
Periomed seems to just be 0.63% fluoride. I use OTC fluoride rinses which are 0.22%. I am not sure how periomed would help as it is a fluoride rinse and not an antibiotic. But the ad for it says it helps with inflammation.
My condition isn’t bad enough for a scaling from what I can tell, I was told it was minor inflammation due to mild/moderate gingivitis, not full scale periodontal disease. I can call the dentist and ask about a scaling and periomed though.
I’m going to the periodontist next week, and I’ll be lucky if that’s all I have to do. I just went through a torturous bout of inflammation and had to do two courses of antibiotics, vicodin (woohoo) and rinsing. I had the gum surgery about 8 years ago and I think I may have to get it again.
And I’ve never had a cavity. Go figure. Sucks to be me.
by inflamation, do you mean when the gums get puffy and recede a bit?
If so, I have the same problem, and was wondering waht to do about it besides dry brushing (which my dentist always nagged me to do). My current lack of health insurance keeps me from asking him in person what to do.
Mild gum recession, early stage gingivitis. They do a periodontal test where they stick a rod in your gums, Supposedly 1-3 is healthy, 4 is somewhat unhealthy and 5 is bad. Most of my teeth were 3s and 4s. The rod looks like this thing.
After root planing (which wasn’t so bad - especially if you can find a dentist who does it via laser instead of mechanically) my dentist prescribed Periogard - a chlorhexidine gluconate rinse which will kill off just about all your oral flora and allow your gums to heal in a relatively bacteria-free environment.
It keeps your teeth feeling fantastically clean, too.