Receeding gums - gum graft? Fao dentists.

Sapphire.

I recently went to the dentist having not gone for the previous ten years (I know, I know...).

I had a fair bit of tartar which has now been removed with a scale and polish. My dentist also took xrays and my two front bottom teeth have less of a root than they should do for my age.

My teeth are now clean and the dentist has used bonding on the back of my two front bottom teeth to steady them a bit.

On these two front bottom teeth my gums have receeded quite badly where the tartar was. I have been looking at gum recession surgery to correct this but I have a few questions:

-is this something to have done privately? if so, how much will it cost?
-if I had it done privately would it negate me going back to my NHS dentist/hygienist for future checkups?
-will the procedure make my front teeth more secure? obviously will help aesthetically.
-what does the procedure involve exactly? is the anaestetic dangerous?

Toothsmith

Sapphire. wrote: »

but I have a few questions:

-is this something to have done privately? if so, how much will it cost? Yes. Cost will be dependent on exactly what is required, which can only be assessed once you're in front of the specialist periodontist that will do it

-if I had it done privately would it negate me going back to my NHS dentist/hygienist for future checkups? No

-will the procedure make my front teeth more secure? obviously will help aesthetically.Yes and Yes

-what does the procedure involve exactly? is the anaestetic dangerous? It will be done under local anaesthetic which is as near to 100% safe as anything gets!

You're putting the cart before the horse here quite a bit.

This was your first dental visit for 10 years. The first thing you have to do before contemplating anything complex and expensive is completely change your dental habits.

It sounds like what you have had done by your dentist has at least stabalised things. He's given the teeth a good clean (It's the effect of all the crud building up that strips away the gum support of your teeth) and it sounds like he's splinted the teeth together which will improve their stability and - so long as you are effective in keeping them clean - this will allow a little bit of bone re-growth and repair anyway.

Over the next couple of years or so, you need to improve your own toothbrushing effectiveness. You need to find a dental practice that you are happy to visit regularly to let either the dentist, or probably more usefully for you, the dentist and a hygienist in combination, monitor and assess the bone levels, offer advice on how you are doing in maintaining it, and when and if they feel it appropriate, referring you on to a periodontal (gum) specialist for more advanced reconstructive work.

You might find this at an NHS practice, it might be at an NHS practice where you have to pay privately for the ongoing monitoring which isn't directly involved in the 'treatment of disease'. It might well just be simpler if you found a private practice where none of the silly distinctions that you get in an NHS practice are there to complicate things.

Either way, it should be a service you learn to value and not object to paying a bit of money in order to get a good thorough service.

Once all this is achieved, you might well find reconstructive surgery is unnecessary but obviously, I don't know how bad things are already!

But the important first step is to become a regular dental patient, and one who realises that what YOU do at home is just as important, if not more so, that anything anyone else can do for you, or any treatment you can buy.

brook2jack

Just to back up what TS has said gum disease is not cured by a dentist, it is kept under control by a patient.

That means you have to attend regularly, see a hygienist regularly and clean meticulously and will need to do so for life. Otherwise any gum surgery will be an expensive , very short term waste of money.

Build up your dental routine first. It's taken many years for your gum disease to get this bad, it won't be a quick fix.

Sapphire.

Thank you both for your responses. It's because I'm making progress with getting my teeth sorted that I now just want everything fixed completely. I am taking proper care of my teeth (brush twice a day, mouthwash, floss, watch my diet). My dentist said this problem came about because I was not visiting the hygienist which I am fully comitted to doing for the rest of my life.

I next have an appointment with him in May but I wanted to look into the private option because my gums look quite unsightly when I speak and more importantly I am really scared of losing those front two bottom teeth and thought seeing a periodontist privately would help.

How long is reasonable before looking into the private option? Is it up to my dentist?

Toothsmith

Yes - speak to your dentist about it next time you go. He's the one best placed to advise on the specifics of it all.

He will also know good perio specialists in your area, which will be much better than you trying to pick one from websites.

melbury

I have got a really bad receding gum on one of my top teeth, which is often very sensitive despite using sensitive toothpaste. I looked at it the other day and was quite shocked at just how far the gum has gone back, there is so much tooth exposed now.

Can your teeth fall out from having receding gums? :eek:

Is it best to brush them a lot or not too much?

brook2jack

These are questions you should be asking your dentist as only they can see you and diagnose why your gum is receeding and what you should do about it.

chatterup

I agree with brook2jack. You should consult your concerns with your dentist.

Sapphire.

So, time has passed and things have progressed.

I have been back to the dentist another time. She has diagnosed gum disease and referred me to a periodontist.

I asked to be referred privately as thought it would be quicker. It's been two weeks now and I've heard nothing - any experience of how long it might take?

Toothsmith

There is no 'general' answer to this.

It depends on how efficient your dentist is at doing his referrals and how efficient the periodontist is at responding to them. Also, it is holiday season now - one or both might have gone on holiday!

Specialist periodontists aren't funded by the NHS usually, so everybody referred to them would be private - so that wouldn't speed things up!

Best thing to do would be to ring either the dentist or the periodontist to see where things are.