Teeth/gums - too stressed to eat!

[penguinplease]

Hi I am in a real state about my teeth and gums. After years of not really taking the dentists warnings to heart and eating sweets.. Smoking socially etc I suddenly find myself in my late 30s and petrified .

I have severe perio and visibly receding gums. I have had bouts of bleeding but that seems to have stopped now. I do floss and I do use an electric toothbrush but crucially I smoked until about only two weeks ago when I had a panic about what I was doing.

I've had my head in the sand for too long, I'm convinced that my gums are going to disappear and leave me with great long horsey teeth if they don't fall out in the meantime.

Can anyone tell me a positive story, can I save myself or am I destined to smile with my mouth shut forever more?? I am actually scared to eat at the moment and am obsessively clean/flossed/chewing gum. Is it too little too late??

Teeth can be stressful can't they. I am off to hygienist today and starting to feel nervous now. I constantly worry about my gums and teeth and understand what you mean about eating as I had a root filled tooth break on me last year and since then I am convinced that if I eat anything slightly hard another tooth will break.

Has your dentist said that you have severe perio? Have you been booked in for a deep clean?

As far as I have seen the worst things for your gums is smoking so well done for stopping and keep it up.

Thank you. Yes dentist confirmed severe perio and I've had a clean, not sure if it was classed as a deep clean or not. I have just made an app to see my dentist again this week, I'm literally obsessing about it and need to know worst case scenario and start maybe saving money for repairs and/or cosmetic dentistry along the lines of implants or dentures. I refuse to live with it being very bad and damn I wish I'd given up the social binge smoking years ago but I can only go forwards. Trying to stay positive and hoping its not too late. Good luck for you and thank you for replying'

A deep clean is when you have different stages of your mouth cleaned at a time and they numb you whilst they do it.

Did the dentist give you your numbers from the gum reading or take xrays to check bone loss? Did they refer you to a periodontist as I thought that if you were to have severe perio you would be referred on for specialist treatment.

My gums bled for bloody ages after I quit smoking. 3 1/2 years down the line and receding has stopped and they're lovely and pink.

Not a deep clean then. She did mention numbers but I don't remember them, maybe 4s and 5s?? No referral either, does this make things more hopeful?? Maybe I am not as bad as I thought. My problem really is they are stained and the lower gums receded and quite sore . I'm seeing her this week and hoping for a miracle to be honest. Feel so stressed and sad about it .

I am not a dentist but I think it may not be as bad as you think.

If you have numbers 4 and 5 then this is the pocket size you have and from what I understand these can with good oral hygiene be reversed to healthy gums but you will have the recession nothing can change that. If you have numbers 7 or above that is when you are normally referred to a periodontist I think which is what I would then call severe perio so I think have a bit of hope on this and have a chat to your dentist. I think things can often seem worse when it is all you can focus on.

Good luck at next appointment.

penguin poor you ,it's odd isn't it how the state of one's teeth and gums feels as though it's entirely one's fault . So much blame .

If it's any comfort ,I've never smoked and have horrid receeding gums and extensive bone loss .

There seems very little advice on how to prevent this getting worse ,and actually no advice on slowing it down when it was happening .

I can only think that brushing too hard ( and I know I was told to brush extensively by dentists in the past ) and acid reflux did it for mine .

The advice I get now is brush softly and gently , dont brush immediately after meals ( when acid softens enamel ) ,use interdental brushes .
Cordosyl daily mouthwash is apparently good for gums but causes staining ,Colgate flouride mouthwash is apparently good for teeth .

I think general advice is also to brush first thing in morning before eating ,I dont because have acid then .Also dont add water when brushing ,dont rinse and spit .

I think you can get teeth " sealed " with flouride ,not sure if appropriate for you ,but maybe ask ?

These are only my thoughts ,and I hope if I'm off target/incorrect someone will come along and say .

But as I've said before - dental care seems the Cinderalla of Health Care .

Well I just had a nightmare of a scale and polish, on my back wisdom tooth the hygienist suddenly said oh dear this fillings come out and when I felt with my tooth the hole felt massive that had been left. However the dentist then came and checked and advised that as my wisdom tooth is sideways growing it was just packing to help prevent decay not the tooth breaking and the hygienist then said sorry for panicking whilst I had my heart pounding and sweaty hands. It is my biggest fear my teeth breaking what a nightmare, its being sorted tomorrow so just have a strange feeling till then.

Sorry to butt in.....have you had your treatment on NHS if you don't mind me asking? My dh has just been told he has PD disease but our NHS dentist has referred him to a private practice which charges £200+ for an initial consultation! Looking at NHS choices I thought our NHS dentist had to offer the treatment.

I know of someone who went to a nhs dentist and they were referred to the dental hospital about an hour away for treatment with the nhs.

That's interesting holiday I'll have a look at that but I don't think there are any nearby.

How did it go holiday?? I had dentist today and feel better. She was lovely said my worst bit is number 1 and that I've much improved since April. Giving up smoking the main factor I suspect. Much relief though. Can start eating again!!

That's great penguin as if your worst bit is a number 1 then this can be reversed, worry over!

My appointment went fine thanks I was also panicking thinking filling had dropped out due to decay etc but there is no decay at all so I just had to have another bit of filling put in the gap but no drilling or injection so went fine.

Ah great news for you too, thanks for propping me up, I appreciate it!