Feeling down periodontal disease

[erming]

Last year I changed dentist and was told I had advanced periodontal disease. I had 5 teeth extracted, 4 were from the same area of my mouth. I had deep scaling and have had regular cleans since.

I have just had a periodontal assessment done and need a wisdom tooth removed. My dentist had tried over the year to save it but it wasn't possible. I am feeling really down and fed up about this and wonder if this nightmare will ever end.

My dentist was pleased overall with the results of the probing. Every tooth had improved and the majority of the readings were 2s with a couple, of 3s and an odd 4 and 5. But I can't take any positives from this at all I just want to cry.

Any support from fellow forum users would be much appreciated

 

[Perez818]

Hello!
just thought I’d chime in and say some people just don’t have good teeth. And I can advocate for this.
as a child my brother (Foster brother) ate all the same foods as me. And probably even worse. Whenever we visited the dentist he never had cavities and I always did. Which made me so angry because I brushed and flossed.
Anyways, fast forward yearssss later. At 22 I was diagnosed with periodontal disease. I cried and cried and felt ashamed. My pockets were deep.
I needed treatment every 4 months. About a year and half ago they offered perio daily gel. It cost an arm and a leg. I had to use it twice every day.
In September I went in and was told I no longer had any signs of periodontal disease! I was told to keep taking care of my teeth. Just because no signs and no pockets doesn’t mean it can’t come back. I know this isn’t reversible but it’s maintainable! So hang in there.
I am 26 and being told you have this disease at an early age(22) really did damage to me. Mentally.
but we got this! You’re not alone! You’ll be okay.

 

[Hanaku]

That sounds so sad. I am also very down and shocked today, I just had to take a really long walk during rush hour to places I wouldn't normally venture.. I just didn't care anymore, I had to do something.

I still can't truly believe what I was told today, so the full shock hasn't hit me yet. It's just so surreal or unreal that it doesn't seem like it could be actual reality that I would lose all (or most) my teeth in a couple of months. And I haven't had any new cavities for maybe 30 years!

It's the darn gum disease.. without that, there would be so much less sorrow in the world. I never realized how important healthy gums were, I was only thinking about cavities and trying to not have any, and I succeeded! All the while my gums and the bone were rotting away because of this disease.

I also wish I had known how important it's to brush at night instead of morning (or both, but that the night-brushing is MORE important kind of surprised me).

Lack of information can make people literally lose their teeth!

If I had known 10 years ago what I know now, I would probably have healthy gums even now.

My only tiny hope is that I could heal the gums so the disease goes away, with the liquid the dentist told me to use twice a day, and then hopefully somehow strengthen my teeth and bone so the teeth could actually remain in my mouth and not have to be pulled out.

Oddly, the tooth that has been a real pain and the dentist couldn't do anything about, that has hurt almost all day in some small or bigger way (especially eating, but also in the bus, coming back from the walk, and whenever I do anything with my lips, especially spitting hurts), is quiet right now, it's not in pain at all.

I am trying to find new habits that I could follow for the 2 months, then I am supposed to have a 'full mouth check-up' so they will analyze every tooth and assess the viability of saving it or whether it has to be pulled for every tooth, so I aim to impress them and minimize the 'must be pulled' teeth hopefully to zero (0).

I don't know how realistic this is at all, it could be that all teeth have to be pulled, but I have to have some kind of hope to cling to, or I will become desperately depressed and anxious about my too-near future.

I really have to learn how to floss and brush at night and morning, and with proper toothpaste and everything. And I plan to swish with salt water after every meal.

So I can understand you feeling down, you have already lost many teeth, and I can't even imagine (but soon might know) what that's like, I still have every single tooth I have ever had, but for how long, I don't know. If I could at least stop this gum disease and heal the gums from it, maybe things could 'stabilize', and if I practice good dental hygiene... well, I HOPE I could just 'keep status quo' indefinitely. I know that at some point this body would probably become so frail, the teeth would have to be pulled, but to gain a few years, 10 or 20 years with my original teeth would go a long way to alleviating my shock and depression about this.

Does it hurt, is it painful physically? This whole thing scares me so much, but I can't stop reading this forum, as these posts are interesting, people write very sympathetically and the responses to people are always so elegant and supportive.

Is there anything I could do to help?

 

[Tolkienista]

erming, you can take positives from your latest trip to have the pockets around your teeth measured, they've all reduced and that is indeed very good news. Stick with it and you will see results.

From a fellow periodontically challenged patient!

 

[erming]

Thanks for both replies. To perez818 you are right some of us just don't have good teeth or in our case good gums. Sorry to hear you experienced this so young. I am in my 50s. Glad you have got things under control. The gel sounds good, what was it?

To hanau sorry to hear what you are going through. Like you I was always pleased I had no cavities and didn't understand the importance of gums. I have always cleaned my teeth twice a day, flossed daily and visited the dentist every 6 months so should never have been allowed to get to this state.

The extractions and cleaning didn't hurt my new dentist is very good. The worst part was the initial appointments where my gums were being assessed. That wasn't painful, but frightening waiting to hear how bad things were.

My advice find a good dentist who you can talk to and trust. And twice a day cleaning at home along with flossing and using tepe brushes

 

[erming]

erming, you can take positives from your latest trip to have the pockets around your teeth measured, they've all reduced and that is indeed very good news. Stick with it and you will see results.

From a fellow periodontically challenged patient!

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. I know you are right I should take the positives from the measurements. I guess the news about needing to loose another tooth felt like a setback. It's a wisdom tooth so I don't need it and by having it extracted it will help the tooth next to it. Trying to think positively

 

[Tolkienista]

Well done erming.......I really believe that a problem shared is a problem halved.

There's nothing you're going through that people on this website haven't experienced. I was devastated when I was diagnosed with gum disease. However, being referred to a periodontist was the best thing that ever happened for me and my mouth, I never looked back. You'll get there in the end, but your feelings about losing another tooth, albeit a wisdom tooth are fully understanable, it is a setback, but please think positively and vent your feelings rather than bottling them up.

Very best wishes........

 

[erming]

Thank you. Glad things worked out for you. So glad to have support from people who know what it's like ?

 

[Hanaku]

To Hanaku sorry to hear what you are going through. Like you I was always pleased I had no cavities and didn't understand the importance of gums. I have always cleaned my teeth twice a day, flossed daily and visited the dentist every 6 months so should never have been allowed to get to this state.

Thank you so much for your compassionate and informative reply, I really appreciate it.


There's so much psychological shock, horror and fear that goes into these things, imagined future and all that, that it really helps when there are supportive people like you. It truly helps in feeling better.

It's amazing how important the gums are, and how much people ignore that importance. It was actually startling to watch an old episode of 'Two and a Half Men', where Alan says something like 'the price for healthy gums is eternal vigilance' and tries to stress just how important gums are. He was actually correct.

Wow, you did all that and still got gum disease? That's a really sad story, that you did everything right and worked so hard, and was still hit like that. I feel sorry for you as well.

How is your tooth health now?

By the way, thank you for the recommendation about 'Tepe brushes', but I don't know how to get hold of such or how to use them, etc.

Right now I am trying to survive this two-tooth-extraction that happened just today.. I plan to not eat anything until 24 hours has passed, just to make sure food can't disturb that sensitive healing big hole left by two neighbouring teeth that aren't coming back from their vacation.

Anyway, sorry for replying so late - I wanted to push my head in the sand for awhile and try to just forget and enjoy life for a bit before having to go through all this, but life has a way of forcing me back to face my problems, so here we are.. it's amazing how there hasn't been any pain yet, maybe the painkillers are still in effect.

I would love to hear other people's 'life-after-tooth extraction' stories, I just hope I can do all the right things.

 

[Hanaku]

your feelings about losing another tooth, albeit a wisdom tooth are fully understanable, it is a setback, but please think positively

This is why this forum is a wonderful place, I don't know if I could've coped with everything without kindness of people like you.

I am in a bit of scary situation because I still don't know how many teeth I am going to end up losing, but the weird thing is that the most painful (front) tooth that started this whole shock saga two months ago, has been very painless well-behaved, and took the 'tartar removal drilling' very well. It used to be so sensitive to touch and such, but now it's been good.

It's good to know that peridontal (?) disease can heal and although gums and bone might not grow back (this is why it's such a scary shock), at least the 'status quo' might be manageable to the end.

In any case, when you really think about it, and bring a positive angle to it, all tooth problems are temporary, because physical body is a temporary thing, after all. So even the worst of problems will end at some point.