Chronic periodontitis treatment in 2 days, I'm kinda horrified

[Zeux]

So for various reasons I hadn't gone to the dentist in about 15 years until yesterday morning. While I don't get any pain and haven't lost any teeth or anything like that, a lot of tartar has built up on my teeth over the years and the final straw was recently some bits of it behind my bottom front teeth had cracked and come off, leaving a small chunk that presses into my tongue and makes me lisp sometimes. I'd been putting this off for years because it never really affected me, so this was basically just the kick up the backside I needed.

Anyway, I had an examination and got diagnosed with chronic periodontitis and told that my treatment would be "full mouth ultrasonic supra and subgingival (above & below gumline) debridement". Is this essentially just a fancier term for the "deep cleaning" you hear about more often? How bad will the pain be?

I was hoping to get the perspective of others who've been in the same situation and could put my mind at ease a bit, or at least give me a good idea of what I'm in for. On top of being worried about the procedure itself I hate change and I can't help but feel like I'm opening a can of worms and they're gonna discover a bunch of other stuff wrong that'll also need treatment. It's driving me mad.

Sorry for the rambling nature of the post and thanks to anyone who takes the time to reply.

 

[whittler]

Hi, i was in a similar position a few months ago.. well done for getting to the dentist, that's a big step forward. It was a huge piece of calculus falling off the back of my tooth which prompted me to finally get my bum down to the surgery too, so it is indeed a sign to do something!

I had the same (or similar) treatment just over a week ago and initially my dentist was going to carry it out in 2 stages as he wanted to numb parts of my jaw (front area mainly) where the calculus had built up the most, as it can be mildly uncomfortable as they clean below the gumline, and often it is easier to allow one side to heal up a bit leaving you to eat on the other. In the end i managed to have a full 2 hour session (with gas and air as i am phobic and my gag reflex is also a problem), and he did my whole mouth in one fell swoop. I may need a bit of repeat cleaning in a couple of months and i can feel one little area that i think he missed, but i am hoping i will just need 6 monthly cleanings after that from now on.

I was dreading it as, like you, i was almost more worried about what the cleaning might uncover, would my teeth feel wobbly, and how long would my gums be sore etc...I presume if you have had xrays it's likely that anything else will have already been picked up and your dentist would have mentioned it, so you may not have anything else to be concerned about at the moment, apart from getting a good clean to get your gums back into shape.
Actually, i have to say that although it was a bit of an uncomfortable process, i felt an almost immediate sense of relief when he'd finished and my mouth felt CLEAN, and i mean properly clean, unlike the slightly gritty, 'mono-tooth' sensation i had got used to for 20 years! The lower jaw is generally the worst in terms of build up, so once that is clear you are on the home stretch. My dentist kept telling me throughout what he was doing and once we'd passed the lower jaw milestone i was actually quite excited to get to the end to see the final result!

I was eating a small portion of fish and chips a couple of hours after the procedure once the numb sensation had worn off and i rinsed my mouth that evening with salt and water as the dentist had suggested rather than brushing, as my gums felt a little tender and looked slightly red, and i carried on with the salt water rinse for another day until most of the soreness and redness had gone. The next day i could feel a couple of tender spots where he injected me but the overall feeling around my gums was that of having had small mouth ulcers in a couple of places, and that faded very quickly.
My gums, which had bled for years, stopped bleeding almost immediately and apart from a little tooth sensitivity to hot and cold which is now finally beginning to disappear, i feel absolutely fine a week on. My teeth actually feel firmer in my gums now, if anything. I have invested in an electric toothbrush and have been using some sensitive brush heads to begin with, as well as a mouth wash, floss and inter-dental brushes. That is the oddest thing - i now have gaps between my teeth that i sort of vaguely remember having years ago, but it does feel good, and i cringe now when i think about the level of build up that i had before, and how dis-coloured my teeth must have really looked...

There are some other more detailed posts around here on the treatment that you are having, by others that have experienced it, which i had a look at before i braved mine, and it really helped to see what others said so do look around...

You really won't regret it, and you have nothing to fear apart from a brief period of slight discomfort that you'll forget quickly once your teeth (and gums) feel properly clean.

 

[Zeux]

Thanks for your reply, whittler. Unfortunately I haven't had any x-rays yet as I was told the calculus is blocking a full clinical examination and would impede the results of the x-rays, so that's what's causing my worry about what could be ahead. I suppose there's no real way to know until Friday. All I have to go on is that none of my teeth are loose or painful, so that's keeping me hopeful.

You mentioned you had the full treatment done in a 2 hour session, do you know if that's about the average length of the procedure? I was given one of those little cards with the details of your appointment on the way out of the dentist's and it said 25 minutes for length, but I thought that sounded pretty short given what's involved.

 

[whittler]

Hi, have you been yet, and if so, how did you get on?

My dentist originally scheduled 2 x 1 hour appointments for my perio/deep clean treatment, but i can't say if that is usual as an appointment length or not, having never had it before, and maybe these treatments do vary depending on where you are (i'm in UK). The 2 appts were all scheduled before i decided, in discussion with my dentist, to go for sedation, and on the day we agreed that if i was comfortable after a few minutes of gas and air, and he could work well, we would try to get as much done in one long session as possible, as it seemed to make sense. I am extremely phobic with a hair-trigger gag-reflex and it may well be the case that the dentist was allowing more time because of this, and we did have regular 'rinse breaks' and a longer break in between him doing the bottom and top jaw, so this should be factored in. It may also depend on whether you have injections to numb the gums - i certainly did have this, and personally i'm glad i did, but i do know people who have gone for a similar treatment without injection. My brother had a similar treatment (with a different dentist to mine) after not going to the dentist for about 10 years and without injections or sedation etc it took just under an hour.