Calling all fellow dentally challenged mumsnetters.

[Tolkienista]

Not sure why I'm writing this but I'm at a low edge with my very strict dental cleaning regime. I'm 66 years old, under a periodontist since 2002, a dentist and four monthly appointments with a hygienist.
I use an electric toothbrush, interdental brushes & dental tape at night.
Do I enjoy it ? No.
I find that each night I'm dragging myself through it, but I know with gum disease, it's an ongoing battle and I have to see it through. There's no half way measures, it is what it is & has to be done properly.

So I guess that I'm looking for fellow dentally challenged mumsnetters who get where I'm at and why I feel that enough is never enough & that there's always more to do.
Please share your thoughts, experiences and anything that can lift me out of this temporary dip that I'm currently feeling.
Thank you.

Lots of good points in your post @Topseyt123 and anyone who is dentally challenged will be saying yes to many of your procedures.
Normally I'm pretty upbeat & positive, but for some reason I've hit a low as we head into winter & I'm wondering if this is all worth it.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out and replied with their own experience of dental issues.
I've really enjoyed reading them all & in many posts saying 'yes that's me too"
It can feel very challenging at times doing everything that's asked of you, but I'll do my best with renewed energy after reading your comments.

I sympathise OP.

I am having 3 monthly hygienist appointments to try and get my gum disease under control. I have a local anaesthetic for these appointments as I find then too painful otherwise.

Everytime I have an appointment coming up I feel sick with nerves as I'm constantly being told off for not brushing my teeth properly!

I would honestly rather go through childbirth than go to the dentist

@Sallycinnamum thank you for your honesty, I know exactly what you mean about your hygienist appointment it is extremely uncomfortable & yes there's always more to do.
I've been going for 20+ years & virtually every visit there's something to add on to my cleaning regime
.

I downloaded the latest book by the author of the book a PP mentioned up thread and I also have crap teeth ( damaged by 1970s dentistry and bruxism)
. Quite common sense, my main takeaway being to use xylitol mints everytime I eat or drink, I've bought a big tin and some new mouthwash.
She makes an interesting point about friendly mouth bacteria and I hadn't thought of thinking of the mouth as the top end of my digestive system, I already try and help my gut bacteria with diet so it's not a big stretch to start thinking of my mouth the same way.
She also is not evangelical about flossing which is a plus.

I saw a specific mouth/teeth probiotic somewhere but I can't remember the name of it
Keep reading interesting stuff about hydroxyapatite too

Watching for tips, because despite regular hygienist, mine is always bad due to a health condition.

I've found my people. I have a defect in my enamel which meant a tiny hole would lead to the entire tooth breaking down and as a result I've had a number of abscesses and where I've had root canals the teeth have broken down. I lost at least 3 during lockdown. I haven't been to a dentist in years as I cannot find an NHS one. Once we've sold our house I'm going to find a dentist ( no need to go NHS) I'm expecting to have dentures TBH.

On a lighter note my DGS said Granny why hasn't your new tooth come down ?

Mine are awful. My front ones are fine and quite white so nobody would realise, but I have several missing teeth and 4 root canal filled, 3 crowns, a bridge and most of the rest are filled. The only ones not filled are my incisors and one premolar. I am early 60s and unfortunately fell into the years of drill everything or whip it out dentistry. I was never really encouraged to take much care of my teeth as my parents both had dentures and seemed to think that was fine.
I pay for private dentistry now, luckily I can afford it, and I really do think it's worth it. At least I have kept a functioning set of teeth, which is something.

OP, sorry I'm a bit late to the party here, but I also feel your pain, aged 60+, using electric toothbrush, water pick, an array of every possible size of interdental brush and 4-monthly hygienist appointments, then feeling pleased just that the gums haven't got any worse. Me and my brother have the same problems with pockets in gums flapping in the breeze and terrible teeth, so there must be a genetic component, not helped by the dreadful 1960s dentistry we grew up with. My dentist has tried redoing fillings so that bacteria can't lodge on rough bits, but still if I don't do all this brushing and poking twice a day my gums still bleed.

Just keep at it and don't feel you're on your own!

My front teeth are fine.
The molars are a disaster though - fillings in every one, crowns and threats of root canals for the ones I have left. I'm 40 and have made the decision to have them removed as and when needed and slowly replace them with implants. Nothing is going to make them better now, just never ending patching over the problems so I figure it's time to admit defeat and go for the third (fake) set of teeth

I'm in! 😬

Fortunately my NHS dentist and hygienist are both lovely and encouraging, especially as I absolutely cannot bear to use an electric toothbrush and lord knows I've tried!

Also, denture tech has come on leaps and bounds which at least means I appear to have great teeth.

I found this article a few months back after hearing how women have far more dental issues than men:

https://www.thesmilestudios.co.uk/dr-mani-reveals-why-women-experience-more-teeth-issues-than-men/#:~:text=Several%20studies%20have%20shown%20that,that%20can%20promote%20dental%20decay.

As with everything else medical related, men are treated as the standard human body. A “normal” average PH level for the mouth is apparently 7. But this is only for men; a woman’s average is 5.6-6. So all toothpastes, mouthwashes and other dental products are designed for the level of acidity in a man’s mouth, not a woman’s. Xylitol alkalines the mouth and can really help improve women’s oral health.

Crikey @Bear0511 it never ends does it! Thanks for sharing.

I got Botox for teeth grinding, it really did help. It’s not cheap but the effect lasted about nine months.

I'm another one with the same issues........ I know some is genetic, some is due to the dentistry on offer when I was a child (it is much better now, I appreciate). Currently due to have an extraction soon and feeling nervous about it.

In my mind, the parallel is that some people have a difficult digestion / can't eat certain things / react badly with stomach upsets to food which others can eat just fine. We all accept that in life. However I still feel frustrated when my teeth are more problematic than friends, it seems, despite knowing that there is some combination of nature / nurture / luck going on for all these items.

Like you, my front ones are ok, back ones not so good. My dentist had a name for the condition, that I can’t remember. Basically my gums and bones at the upper backs are in poor condition.
it would seem to be an inherited condition. My father had all his out, back in the days when it was fashionable and acceptable.

@GettingStuffed i love that part of your post "I've found my people"
Yes we're all in this together.

That's it for me.
"More problematic than friends"
When I go away, my dental stuff far outweighs what I bring for my face and hair combined.
I'm scared to miss a night of cleaning just in case something develops.

@Bear0511 that's really interesting, didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.

Hello . Thanks for this thread , I’m a hygienist and reading all your comments has been really enlightening. Some of you do have sone really complex routines and sticking to them must be really hard. All I can say is stick with it ! It’s worth it .

I hsve read a bit of what I may consider less than good advice on here , based on my opinion as a 30 year plus hyg but I haven’t Come on here to give you all yet another version of an oral hygiene routine .

Will say , the person who views the mouth as the start ofcthe alimentary canal is spot on. There is research as we speak on products that can influence our oral bacteria in the way certain diets / fictional foods can influence our gut bacteria . So far the opinion is very little other the excellent oral hygiene ( ie the removal of plaque everyday ) influences oral bacteria . In other words , you can get rid of it but you can’t influence what kind of bacteria comes back . There isn’t anything so far that changes the bad bacteria to good / inhibits bad bacteria. Oral bacteria is just not as easily influenced as gut bacteria . That’s to science so far .

with regard to “ inherited gum disease “ it’s a thing alright but what you inherit is your susceptibility to gum disease , not the disease itself . So if you keep your plaque levels below your own bacteria threshold ( which varies from person to person but assume you need to aim for complete plaque removal every 24 hours ) you won’t trigger the pathway to disease .

anyway , I’m sounding like a dental bore now but if anyone has a question they would like to ask a time served dental hygienist I’m happy to give them a go . And good luck with your struggles . We hygienists thank you for them . We really do . X

Functional foods not fictional . And apologies for other typos . It’s been a long day at the coal face.

I'm supposed to do a lot of what you do OP. I don't.

Since changing from my private dentist to an NHS dentist and stopping the hygienist appointments there has been very little change.

I dread appointments though. My teeth are so sensitive that I have to have numbing gel before a scale and polish.

Peri and menopause affect teeth and gum health too. I wish I had that info to hand.

My private dentist told me I had receding gums. My NHS dentist told me they were ok.

My mum had a complete set of false teeth due to a combination of medicine she took and pregnancy/breast feeding.

For sensitive teeth I sometimes rub the toothpaste onto the sensitive part and leave it there.

@Souredgrapes thank you for your lengthy informative post .
Delighted to have a reply from a seasoned hygienist who obviously knows her stuff having stared into many a mouth!
As the OP I'm very invested in the whole process of keeping my teeth for as long as possible and if that means following a detailed dental cleaning regime , so be it.
My next appointment is Dec 16th & I'm going to go in expecting a thorough clean and maybe a tweak to my already detailed nightly session.

I've already asked my hygienist this, but I wonder .....
What percentage of your patients go home and follow your instructions for cleaning to in your eyes an acceptable level?
And is there a difference in gender compliance? basically are women better than men at complying.

One final thing......which in your eyes is the (must not ever drop) stage in cleaning?
Interdental brushes, dental floss/tape, electric toothbrush.
Thanks again for joining my thread, much appreciated.
If there's anything else you want to add, I'm all ears.

I’ve just been told I have the very early stages of gum disease so I’m doing what I can to reverse it or at least stop it from progressing.
I’m having 3 monthly appointments with my dentist and the hygienist and I have upped my dental routine at home.

I have never missed a check up as an
adult, I’ve always flossed and brushed twice a day but I still get hit with problems. I can’t help but think it’s down to my childhood - My mum never took us to the dentist or checked we were brushing and by the time I was a late teen/young adult I’d already had fillings and teeth pulled.