This is my very first post on here. So I hope I've done it correctly.
I am 34 years old and have just been told I have gum disease. I was due for my 6 months check up in April 2020 when lock down hit so I haven't been to the dentist since around September/October time 2019.
During lockdown my dental hygiene wasn't the greatest and my gums started to bleed here and there when brushed. I bought corsadyl and used it here and there. I bought the same brand toothpaste too. I also noticed that I started to have small tiny gaps within the last 2 months appear between my teeth at the gum line. In the last few days I started to notice a darker shade of pink on my gums. The doctor google in me came out whereby I found myself researching and researching, unfortunately gingivitis and gum disease was always brought back. Even found myself reading through all the threads on here for gum disease and found them somewhat as a comfort that I wasn't alone.
I booked myself an appointment with my dentist. The earliest date I could be seen was 20th Jan. however within the last few days my gums at the bottom front have been tender so has the skin inside my mouth. I just thought it was an irritation caused by the alcohol in the mouthwash. This morning I noticed a slightly swollen gum that when I pressed on it a tiny bit of blood appeared. I decided I couldn't let this wait a few weeks longer so I rang this morning for an emergency appointment and would be seen by the dentist that was on call so couldn't see my regular dentist. The woman was lovely and after a quick talk about what I had been experiencing she looked at the lower front. due to emergency appointments they will only look at the issue you initially made the appointment for so I can't talk about the overall state of my gums although I'm fairly sure she said they aren't as bad as the front. She confirmed they were inflamed due to the tartar build up and that I would need a scale. As this needed a good clean she did give me local anaesthetic into the area. Which was fine. The scale its self was fine and I didn't feel a thing. She wanted to give me tips on dental hygiene to keep up on at home until I see my proper dentist on the 20th. The tips she has given me are:
Tepe brushes to clean I between the gaps of all my teeth.
She also wrote down another brand with us rubber and they are called wisdom clean inbetween interdental brushes (I think these are for the bigger gaps as she wrote down medium)
She also said to put toothpaste on them so that they get properly cleaned
Floss the places that the interdental stick can't get to and below the gum line.
It is worth mentioning that she did say I will bleed as there is inflammation there but to preserve and not to stop because of the bleeding.
Cleaning my teeth with an electric tooth brush in small circular motions along the gum line too.
She did warn me that my gums will bleed and will be sensitive. I asked her should I continue with the corsadyl original mouthwash and she said only for a day due to the work I had just done but then to stop it. I asked her about mouthwash and she said the corsadyl daily was fine but either 30/60mins before or after I have done my teeth but did say the above and was fine.
I did ask her what stage I was on (the scale is 0-4) and unfortunately she couldn't tell me due to the work I had just had. some pockets must have showed very deep due to the work just done and I need to allow my gums to heal and inflammation to settle. The good news was that there is no movement in my teeth for now but my gums are in fairly bad state.
My dentist who I will see on the 20th will give me a better indication on where I am with this and will score my pockets and carry out another scale. Which hopefully won't be too invasive as the one today.
I will be working as hard as I can to delay the progression of this by carrying out better oral hygiene at home.
Thanks for reading. I will continue to provide updates on my treatment and progress.