been told i have gum disease :o(

[DinahMoHum]

I went for a check up last week and it seems i have gum disease. I then had a really brutal scale and polish which needed anaesthetic and have been told i need to go on a long term antibiotics in order to try and reverse it. Ive since had another scale and polish which was just as bad and have been told i need to have them regularly(weekly or fortnightly) over the next few months as well as daily vigourous flossing and that horrid mouthwash that burns your mouth.
I always thought i was good with dental hygeine, or not bad anyway, but bloody hell. My gums are bruised and sore from the treatment and ive now noticed a couple of my teeth wobbling. Im sure they werent before.

Im not only petrified that im going to lose my teeth. Ive already had more than my share of dental treatment after losing my front teeth in a bike accident as a child and having crowns which randomly break/chip, but im also petrified of all these scales and polishes. I didnt realise they were like that, I thought I was just going in for a going over with the polishing machine, not digging and prodding at my gums and scraping my teeth with a bloody chisel. I have no idea what on earth she was removing from them.

Am i going to lose my teeth. Is it normal for them to be wobbly after a scale and polish? Can this be reversed? Is there another alternative to these scales and polishes. I have an anxiety disorder and this is really making me very upset and i had a panic attack in town today and couldnt even get my prescription and started crying in public and couldnt stop all the way home

Oh fuck.

Im not any help for you, but I went to the dentist last week (first time in 10+ years) and the dentist said I had gum disease and require at least two trips to the hygienist for a scale and polish. Was dreading it anyway, but now am terrified. Does it help to know you are not the only one in this boat?

Oh darling.:( I don't know anything about gum disease but I do feel for you. It sounds horrible. I hope some dentists can advise. Hang in there.

im sorry lovebox, i didnt think about the fact that might have freaked people out :(

I have gum disease - my mum passed it on to me and Dsis.
Have had fear of dentists for many years ( not just because of this) and had similarly toe curling hygienist appts - that put me off even more.

In the end the turning point for me was being referred to a gum specialist.
I had to pay ££ for a deep clean - under local anaesthetic - and it was the best thing ever.
Now I have no more problems and going to the hygienist doesn't hurt so I have been able to keep things healthy.

Might be worth exploring this sort of advice - with hindsight I wish my previous dentist had asked about other options rather than the hygienist massacre !!

lovebox please tell them you are anxious and they should only do what you are comfortable with - and can use topical anaesthetics too. I wish I had spoken up about how painful it was at the time.

HTH

i just keep thinking about it. I cant find much on the internet if wobbliness is a temporry thing after a S&P. I think im going to lose them. I think i need to call the dentist tommorow :(

I'm no dentist but weekly scale and polishes sounds a bit extreme.

Do your gums bleed a lot when you brush? How swollen are your gums?

I had gum disease some years ago but the hygienist was happy to see me every three months and then in between strict flossing at every opportunity and those mini tooth brushes too as well as mouthwash.

Is it worth getting a second opinion do you think?

Oh holy shit! I am no use, but i have the deepest sympthy for you! This is quite literally my biggest nightmare. I had a nightmare that all of my teeth fell out and have been obsessed with it ever since.
Could you try getting a second opinion from another dentist? Maybe try and find a specialist clinic.

dinah if you can, go to a different dentist for a second opinion. that doesn't sound quite right.
usual treatment is antiseptic mouthwash + antibiotics + dental hygiene. to see the hygienist that often is a bit exessive (imo, no expert).
do you brush with an electric brush? if not it might be good to switch.

i love my dentist though, shes fantastic usually and ive actually followed her to a few different surgeries when shes moved, as have loads of people. Shes a good one and lovely too. Its just horrible though. I keep crying about it. Im going to see if she'll call me tommorow and see if ive got any other options

Dinah, you didn't scare me- I'd prefer to know what I'm letting myself in for, but bless you for apologising (when I was the one that gatecrashed your thread!)

Just wanted to sympathise really so you didn't feel so shit (my dentist made me feel like I was dirty scum :( ).

I had a nasty case of it about ten years ago and had to have the horrid deep scale - my gums bled for days afterwards but the one deep work and then 3 monthly checks for a year were sufficient. They also showed me properly how to clean my teeth. I felt like such a spanner for not being able to do it properly before, but if you haven't been shown you can't know. My dentist and hygienist were lovely!

My teeth felt a bit displaced after the deep scale and would move if I applied pressure with my tongue. They soon firmed up though. The hygienist explained that the gum tissue needed to reattach to the tooth where they had removed the calculus, which had acted as a kind of cement before they took it out.

I now have absolutely no problems. My teeth don't wobble and my gums are tight and not swollen. I use an electric toothbrush and interdental brushes. If I get run down my gums do get swollen, but this was likened to someone who has had bronchitis having a weak chest - I have weak gums.

Also, my dentist told me about another client of hers who had gone in because her teeth were actually loose. They managed to sort out her dental hygiene and her teeth were then fine and firmly fixed in her gums.

It's horrible being diagnosed and having the treatment - and I'd say the weekly hygiene visits sous excessive, unless they're just monitoring your cleaning in which case they sound super, but it is treatable and you can have no lasting effects.

Me too I was so embarrassed and now Im paranoid that my breath might smell. I darent go back, the hygienist was so rough with me. Im using that mouth wash and my mouth literally burns after. That advert on the telly is awful as well, the one with the glamorous woman and at the end of the night she takes her falsies out. Makes me ill.

I feel your pain.

I got gum disease really badly when I first buggered up my hands and couldn't hold a toothbrush properly - swollen bleeding gums all over.
Dentist said either I needed loads of antibiiotic injected all round into the gums, at a cost of £250, or I could have the NHS option and let all my teeth fall out.

Luckily future-MrNC gave me the money and talked me into going as I had total mouth-injection-phobia (but this was balanced by panic about all my teeth falling out). I went to the appt and he tried to suggest we do it in 2-3 sessions. I told him he had one chance as I was never coming back, so get me in a headlock and just do it.

He did. Took 15 injections (not too bad after the first 5 or so), couldn't talk for the rest of the day, but otherwise it was a total cure and since then I just get a scale+polish done (on the NHS) every 6 months - only minor issues in the last 10 years.