Periodontal disease...I cant get answers to these questions online....

[SeasonalVag]

Got diagnosed with periodontal disease last week. I'm strugglng to get the information I need tonundertsnad it fully. (Hygenist v unforthcoming) I have 13 gum pockets, apparently there were one or two 5s.

So....I've been googling like mad and just can't find the information I need, would appreciate any dental input.

1. I think they just scraped tartar off...I would have known if they'd done a scale n plane, wouldn't I?

1. I'm surprised I've got this as my oral hygiene has been pretty good and I've never missed an appointment.... Nobody has ever mentioned gums or gingivitis to me. Does that seem odd, or can it come on that fast? I've had four different dentists in 10 years. Had a baby in 2010 and then 2013.

1. I've got psoriasis and have had it fairly badly since 2009. I had a root canal that year and am wondering if the inflammation caused by p has led to periodontal disease?

5.. How long does it normally take for gum disease to develop? Have I had this for years? Am now wondering if this is what triggered my psoriasis.

1. I'm ON THE CASE big time... What would be a realistic outcome in terms of pocket reduction at my next appointment? I get the impression that once it hits 5mm there's only so much you can achieve.

1. How long does it take for pockets to close fully? Do you basically have to avoid any biofilm being generated? How can I tell by observing my gums? Only one looks inflamed to me.

1. Why cant they I've me broad spectrum antibiotics?

Am terrified of losing my teeth, any info would be muuuuch appreciated. I

Hi
First up - don't panic! This is treatable and you won't lose your teeth.

I had this a few years ago and it was fixed. It is strange that it has come so out of the blue to you though, I knew that my gums were a bit rubbish and I'd had bleeding gums in the past. I didn't know the extent of it though until I got a new dentist who was a lot more clued up about things. He was still not able to carry out the proper treatment himself though so I was referred to the dental hospital for treatment. This involved serious deep cleaning around the roots of my teeth - sounds awful but it wasn't actually that bad (but yes, you would definitely know if you'd had it!). They did it in 3 sessions then I had to go back 3 months later to see if it had worked properly. It had, and I went from pockets of 5 or 6 to 1s and 2s. The dentist was delighted with me! They also said antibiotics are only for really bad cases in conjunction with the deep cleaning and that they don't use them unless they have to.

I was also told this can just be one of those things, and nothing to do with your oral hygiene. For me, it's hereditary. I now obsessively clean my teeth, especially with those little interdental brushes. So far, no sign of it coming back but I'm keeping a close eye! If your dentist is not very helpful then you could find another one who knows more about this....
Good luck!

Most adult periodontal disease develops over a long period of time, and is very much linked to unsatisfactory oral hygiene +/- smoking. (Sorry).It is absolutelyimperative to stop smoking to stabilise this condition.
Home routine should be:

1. Brushing twice daily with the "modified bass technique", -should be on Google-but your dentist/hygienist/therapist should go through this at the outset of periodontal treatment.

2.Interdental brushing at night. The gold standard is TePe brushes. Rather like a shoe-fitting, your hygienist/dentist/ therapist should be finding the right sizes for different spaces. Pink, red & Orange are the most commonly used. Bit of practice needed with TePe technique-so ask the HCP to go through it thoroughly. There are other types of adult periodontal disease, eg rapidly progressive periodontal disease, however this is rare, and needs an urgent specialist referral. The main aim of periodontal disease treatment is to stabilise the disease process-this is done by your home routine (see above) ANDroot surface instrumentation with/without local anaesthetic (a sort of deep scaling). There are some systemic conditions like uncontrolled type 1 diabetes which can be linked with chronic adult periodontal disease. Psoriasis wouldn't be linked.

Thanks for your input both! My aim is to make enough progress at home that I can avoid root planing....I want to turn this around as much as I can at home.

I have waterpik, vit c, interdentals and am swishing after every meal. I'm avoiding sugar/starch as much as possible and am drinking carrot juice daily.

Also, by developing over a long time, are we talking decades?

You sound v motivated-which is great!!

Chronic adult periodontal disease Development-Usually over at least a 5 year period. It's really pernicious, and, sorry to bang on re smoking but it really masks gingival bleeding, so easy to think gums are fine IYSWIM.

Don't worry about the root planing though-really not that bad at all-but much better to have local anaesthetic in. Tends to be done in mouth quadrants as per the pocketing chart. May be a bit tender & sensitive afterwards, paracetamol and Colgate pro-relief are the best things to take/use.

Re the rinsing out, remember not to do at the same time as brushing and interdental cleaning.

You should be on 3 monthly perio recalls for now also, until situation stabilises.

Good luck !

Ah, that's v interesting....so its probably been brewing from my days of out on the bevvy til all hours....not brushing before bed etc. I've been brushing my teeth for 3x day since about 8 yrs ago.....just felt a bit unfair I guess. Wanted to blame psoriasis.

Are you a dentist, word? If so, why has nobody picked up on it before now? An clinging to hope that they made a mistake

I suspect it's not though as I ve never had any charting done, she was v throrough if not communicative

Sorry to hop on this thread and I know it's old so may not get noticed!

How did you get on, op?

I've just been diagnosed with really bad periodontal disease - grade 4 - and have been told I need a tooth extracted.

I wonder if any of the previous posters can let me know if its too late for my teeth?! How recoverable is this? I've signed up for the quadrant cleaning. And am getting an antibiotic injection each one, so he must think I'm a bad case.

Apparently my teeth will look ugly after as the gum shrinks back and exposes some "black triangles"

I'm pretty devastated and terrified! (Have three kids, currently breastfeeding the third who is only 7 weeks old. Wonder if pregnancy / bf has contributed to it all? I don't smoke, don't have any risk of diabetes, brush well,use a waterpik...)