why do some dentists give different opinions ?

[anonfemale]

i was told that I had gingivitis with bone loss in one tooth and some recession, andi was also told that I had moderate gum disease. how do I know which is the truth ?. sometimes I find it difficult to brush and floss and find it hard to eat. I have so much anxiety over this.

 

[kenny1999]

i was told that I had gingivitis with bone loss in one tooth and some recession, andi was also told that I had moderate gum disease. how do I know which is the truth ?. sometimes I find it difficult to brush and floss and find it hard to eat. I have so much anxiety over this.

Hello, I am not a doctor but I guess you should visit a periodontist who is specialized in periodontal disease and ask for consultation, a periodontist will take a X-ray from you and check the pocket depths of your teeth, once again I am not a doctor at all but I guess a general dentist cannot have the best guess for the condition of your teeth. They don't take x-ray and they don't measure pocket depths.

If I have said anything wrong, please correct

 

[drhirst]

i was told that I had gingivitis with bone loss in one tooth and some recession, andi was also told that I had moderate gum disease. how do I know which is the truth ?. sometimes I find it difficult to brush and floss and find it hard to eat. I have so much anxiety over this.

Hi,
I am not sure they are different opinions, more different ways of describing the same situation. Gingivitis, bone loss and recession are all features of gum disease which can be described as early, moderate or advanced. The good news is that with excellent oral hygiene moderate gum disease can be stopped from progressing.

Why do you find it difficult to brush and eat?

Lincoln

 

[anonfemale]

I am confused because i heard that gingivitis is the early stage and I heard it doesn't cause recession. But moderate gum disease is periodontitis. Also I didn't think that gingivitis could cause bone loss in one tooth. The hygienist said there was minimal bone loss in more than one tooth though. The hygienist measured mu gums, bit no x rays were taken at that practice. I find it hard to brush and eat because I have pain that comes and goes and I think ot is because of my anxiety too. I hardly ever leave the house and cry every day. I had an anemia recently. Can that cause gum problems ?. I have had gum problems for five years now. I was told that I had gingivitis five years ago, so now I am wondering if it has got worse.

 

[drhirst]

The exact definitions are not important. What is clear is that you have some inflammation (gingivitis) and bone loss. It is the bone loss that is important as it indicates that you have some damage so it is important to halt that. Anaemia won't be helping but it is not the cause. I have several anxious patients who worry about brushing their teeth in case it is sore or damages the teeth or the gums. This may well be a product of your general anxiety problems.
You will not harm your gums by brushing them. The only sure fire way of halting the progression of the gum problems is to remove the plaque from every surface of every tooth virtually every day. Forget gizmo's and mouthwashes it is simple and effective brushing that does it.
I am so sorry that you are having such a stressful time. You are not alone feeling as you do and it is not easy to overcome your anxiety about brushing firmly. Give it a go, maybe do one quarter of you mouth as an experiment then if nothing bad happens increase it bit by bit. You will feel happier once you are cleaning like you know you should. Do expect the gums to bleed a bit at the start though. They will firm up once you have kept the plaque off for a week or so.

Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes

Lincoln

 

[anonfemale]

The exact definitions are not important. What is clear is that you have some inflammation (gingivitis) and bone loss. It is the bone loss that is important as it indicates that you have some damage so it is important to halt that. Anaemia won't be helping but it is not the cause. I have several anxious patients who worry about brushing their teeth in case it is sore or damages the teeth or the gums. This may well be a product of your general anxiety problems.
You will not harm your gums by brushing them. The only sure fire way of halting the progression of the gum problems is to remove the plaque from every surface of every tooth virtually every day. Forget gizmo's and mouthwashes it is simple and effective brushing that does it.
I am so sorry that you are having such a stressful time. You are not alone feeling as you do and it is not easy to overcome your anxiety about brushing firmly. Give it a go, maybe do one quarter of you mouth as an experiment then if nothing bad happens increase it bit by bit. You will feel happier once you are cleaning like you know you should. Do expect the gums to bleed a bit at the start though. They will firm up once you have kept the plaque off for a week or so.

Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes

Lincoln[/QUO

IT upsets me because i haven't had many problems with my teeth, just the gums. I have only had two fillings and two extractions. All the other teeth are fine. It makes me feel angry and upset that my gums are so bad. I wish I knew what caused it, whether it was plaque, not brushing the right way or my diet, or something that I was missing in my diet.I was told give years ago that i had mild gingivitis. I didn't know what it was and the dentist didn't explain what it was, or how to treat it, so now I worry that it has got worse . I didn't go back to the dentist until recently. The experiences I had when I was younger put me off going again. I also thought it was normal to have red gums that bled because I didn't know about gum problems. I feel frightened at the thought of having teeeth removed and replaced, if they can be replaced. I also wory about absesses, heart disease, stroke, and other health problems caused by gum disease. I blame myself thinking that I could have prevented it. The dentist that said I had gingivitis didn't mention seeing a hygienist, but the one that said I had pwriodontitis said I needed to see one. How am I supposed to know what treatment to have ?. Theyarestill swollen after i brush and floss, and because I get twinges and pain, I worry that it might be advanced gum disease.I also worry that if it does get to the worst stage, I might not be able to afford treatment as I am unemployed.