Gum disease

paul55555

Hello I am new here I just been diagnosed with gum disease I am so depressed can not stop crying about this. I live in the UK and have stopped eating. I feel like this is the end for me.

For the past 18 years at various dentists I have complained about bleeding gums and no dentist seemed to consider it a serious issue or ask about how I brush my teeth I think perhaps they may have suggested corsodyl mouthwash which never seemed to work by the way I have never smoked. So at my current practice which I have been a patient for 4 years also never thought it was an issue. They keep giving me a new dentist every year as my dentist kept on dumping for private patients. So I am on my 3rd dentist at this practice my last visit was about 18 months ago prior to  2 weeks ago. 

I normally try to see my dentist at least once a year but due to covid 19 i have not been able to see my dentist and even 3 months ago the appointment was cancelled. I noticed 4 weeks ago puss coming out between my 3rd front side left side tooth. so this concerned me so called dentist and they called me back and said they needed to see me due to this. They took x rays and found some bone loss. I find it hard to conclude that this has not been spotted till know I understand I should have seen the dentist every 6 months but covid has made it difficult thats why I waited so long. After doing my own research I find out gums should not bleed a lot which shocks me all these years I have been telling them of this issue for many years. They never referred me to any specialist's or investigated my gums more.

I probably was never educated on how to brush my teeth properly like many older people we were told to brush hard twice a day. So know I am trying my best at 42 to try and improve oral hygiene. So what I do is brush 3 times a day some time 4 I use 3 brushes on normal tesco cheap one a newer one shorter bristles and a soft one using two types of tooth paste I then use some soft picks and use a water piker and then floss every night. I also use special gum tooth paste and some times use Listerine mouth wash I am waiting to see the hygienist appointment being 4/11/20 I have been trying to get an appointment with her earlier but have been messed about by the practice I have been told I can only see her as a private patient as such have to pay full what ever the going rate is.

I really hope the appointment does not get cancelled again due to yorkshire may go into tier 3 lockdown. The practice has posters all over saying we will not treat you if you become abusive. I am wondering why all the notices maybe people in pain are begging for help but the practice is only seeing 40% and people are getting desperate even though practice will not see them. I don't have much sympathy for the practice as soon as I walked in the receptionist seemed to have an attitude towards me demanded I clean my hands with sanitiser and yet she was not wearing a mask. The way I see it if doctors nurses are having to work and help people dentists have no right to cut their patients yes I get they want to be safe but so do us key workers too. But I still go to work to help the NHS to continue to work on. I have been trying to get antibiotics as the dentist suggested this when I did see him but forgot to ask. I can not even get in the door to get some from them. 

I am very worried as I always thought I clean my teeth twice a day so am looking into bone graphs operations and laser sugary its so expensive for some thing not invasive  prices I have seen are £5000 seems way over the top even as a private patient some say it works other say it does not work for them and need more treatments when what I see it is designed to kill the Bactria but I don't see how it can kill all of the bad stuff. Clearly their is other surgery's as well but I am not rich and can not pay for these things with out saving up for some years. So my symptoms are numbness in my teeth and some pain in my side tooth in-between my left top side front tooth and the first left top molar. I was eating some soft warm potato's that left side of my mouth and I did feel a bit of pain.

The dentist I did see 2 weeks ago appeared to be a new dentist  he told me due to bone loss one of my small front tooth has very little bone supporting it and that may come out over time. It looks like to keep on top of this I need to clean my teeth like I have been doing avoiding sugar which is harder than you think it is. and see the hygienist once every 3 months.  I really am struggling to avoid sugar as I drank soft drinks and did eat alot of chocolate so its been a hard thing to change my diet as well. If any one has suggestions regarding foods that is safe and be ok for me please let me know as I have been told by the periodontal disease support group on facebook check it out as their is many people supporting each other that sugar is the enemy.

I really feel for some people who has got this at a very young age like 21 my heart goes out to those people while I am devastated I at least am 42. I always thought I did a good job at brushing my teeth if post can help other people please join the face book support page their are so many people offering good support. Many thanks if you have got this far reading this please do post a response as it may help me and others reading this. One last not to toothsmith thank you for helping other people posting on here as you are very helpful as a professional supporting others on the forum. So I wanted to give you a personal shout out and say thank you on behalf of every one here.

paul55555

Just wanted to add a big thank you to toothsmith in the forum for giving good advise as it is appreciated. Please post responses please don't just read the post as your comments and advise could help others and thank you for reading. 

sheramber

Dentist were instructed to close by their governing body. It was not an individual decision. They had no choice.

Zellah

paul55555 said:

 I really am struggling to avoid sugar as I drank soft drinks and did eat alot of chocolate so its been a hard thing to change my diet as well. 

You need a make a simple choice: keep having sugar bombs galore (chocolates, fizzy drinks etc) or save your teeth and health. Not to mention your high sugar diet is increasing your risk of getting type 1 or type 2 diabetes - in which case gum disease will be the least of your worries. 

paul55555

I  don't drink and eat tones of sugar  just have some know and then like most people,. What I am trying to say is I have had to cut sugar out completely try it for a week and you will be surprised how hard it is to do.  Even basic things like potato's oranges strawberry's   have sugar in them.

Zellah

No, you don't need to cut out sugar completely. After all if someone is obese, they don't cut out food completely do they? You need to REDUCE your sugar consumption and have a sensible diet. No need to stop eating potatoes, sugary fruit etc - just eat everything in moderation.

Re: oral health, you might want to use an electric toothbrush instead. I stopped using a manual tooth brush more than 20 years ago and would never go back. You can buy a good Oral B electric toothbrish for £20-30, no need to spend silly money on one. Floss or use a tepe stick after every meal. Keep the number of  acid attacks on your teeth as low as possible each day, eg have 3 main meals a day rather than 5 small ones. Try to avoid snacking in between meals.

beyer78

Buy a toothpaste with stannous fluoride.
Superdrug  sell a good paste with stannous.
It's often on buy 1 get 1 free too.

[Deleted User]

Zellah said:

paul55555 said:

 I really am struggling to avoid sugar as I drank soft drinks and did eat alot of chocolate so its been a hard thing to change my diet as well. 

You need a make a simple choice: keep having sugar bombs galore (chocolates, fizzy drinks etc) or save your teeth and health. Not to mention your high sugar diet is increasing your risk of getting type 1 or type 2 diabetes - in which case gum disease will be the least of your worries. 

Think you need to check your facts. 

helensbiggestfan

Try gengigel mouthwash. Not cheap but far better than listerine etc. They also do a gel which you can massage onto your gums.  

Not all chemists stock them so I just get mine from amazon. 

There is also oraljel but I’m not keen on the taste. 

Give it a month and you should see a big improvement. 

Zellah

MarkN88 said:

Zellah said:

paul55555 said:

 I really am struggling to avoid sugar as I drank soft drinks and did eat alot of chocolate so its been a hard thing to change my diet as well. 

You need a make a simple choice: keep having sugar bombs galore (chocolates, fizzy drinks etc) or save your teeth and health. Not to mention your high sugar diet is increasing your risk of getting type 1 or type 2 diabetes - in which case gum disease will be the least of your worries. 

Think you need to check your facts. 

You think eating a lot of refined sugar is good for your teeth & general health? I better mention that to my dentist! 🤣

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the thread OP. GD for me was caused by teeth grinding. Tried a guard as a teen but couldn't get on with it. I think you should have got a prescription for antibiotics. With some reluctance I've an extraction booked for next month but worser things are happening out there. Try not to get down x