Does anyone have more information on gum disease and surgery?

I did not have dental insurance for the past 3 years, and missed dental visits. Prior to that, dentists had assured me that I had teeth in fairly decent health.

I have insurance now and I visited a dentist recently. They seemed to jump on my case the moment I said I'd missed appointments for 3 years. The staff took x-ray records at first and when the doctor walked in, the first thing he said without even looking into my mouth was that I have gum disease, and referred me to a periodontist. I was trying to understand what he was trying to say but before I understood anything, the doctor walked out of the room.

Today, I went to the periodontist who spent 10 mins looking at my teeth measuring gaps, and said that I will need to knock off two wisdom teeth and go through gum surgery. I was more aggressive in asking pointed questions and he at least answered them. He says my gums have moderate level of infection and will need to be opened up for cleaning and then stitched back.

He also prescribed a thorough dental clean-up process, which will cost me $280(my copay). The extractions and surgery are likely to run into a few thousands, not to mention the pain.
While the dentists may be right, I somehow felt that they are more focussed on business development for themselves than actually attending to my needs. E.g. my wisdom teeth are perfectly fine and healthy, and have never given me any trouble. When I asked why the extraction was needed, I was told that the teeth are deep inside & difficult to clean, so I would find it easier to maintain the health of my mouth without them. They were just keen to get me to sign up for the extraction appointment. I had to be my assertive best to say that I needed to think about it.
I'm considering seeing a couple more dentists. While I'm surely concerned about my oral health, I don't want to be pushed into urgent and immediate procedures, which are painful & costly.
Am I being pushed into unneccessary procedures? Please help.

You should seek a second opinion. No one should tell you that you need surgery before you have had a deep cleaning or scaling and root planning. Many of my patients have improved tremendously with the deep cleaning and oral hygiene instruction without ever needing surgery. Plus you need time to learn how to properly take care of your teeth before jumping into surgery. No sense in spending money if you don't know how to maintain them.

We start our patients with an hour long examination, where we explain what we see and give you a treatment plan - or game plan on how to take care of the disease. We schedule you for the deep cleaning, which may take multiple visits, and then wait 4 to 6 weeks to see how the tissue has healed. At the re-evaluation visit, if there hasn't been significant improvement and there are other factors like pus and bleeding on probing, we might discuss surgery.

However, since you took a three year break from dentistry and regular cleanings, I usually recommend getting your teeth cleaned every three months for several times after the deep cleaning before recommending surgery. That way we know that you are as good as you are going to get without surgical intervention. Plus you need to have your general dentist or restorative dentist give you a proper examination. Open contacts (or space between the teeth) are a large determinant if a pocket is going to heal. If your floss does not snap but falls into the gum tissue, everytime you eat food it is being forced up into the gum. This is called food impaction and it can over time cause pocketing and bone loss to occur around the teeth.

As for the wisdom teeth, it all depends on their position and what they look like. If they are not fully erupted and only part of the teeth are sticking out, you might want to have them removed at some point because they are a reservoir for bacteria to breed and spread forward to other teeth. It sounds as if priority number one is to start with the cleaning first, then consider your options once you know how your body will heal.

People take breaks from dentistry all the time, it is very expensive and time consuming. You maybe had other things (like feeding and clothing children) that your money had to go to at the time. You should never let a dentist make you feel bad for taking care of other issues first. You should respond with, the past is the past, I am here now, what do I need to do to fix it. I hate that some dentists take such a negative tact. We try to keep a positive attitude and congratulate people on taking the first step back to dental health. Definately interview dentists until you find one that will treat you with respect.

You may need surgery for severe gum disease (periodontitis) if it cannot be cured with antibiotics or root planing and scaling. Types of surgery include:

Gingivectomy. A gingivectomy removes and reshapes loose, diseased gum tissue to get rid of pockets between the teeth and gums. A gum specialist (periodontist) or oral surgeon often will do the procedure.
Flap procedure. A flap procedure cleans the roots of a tooth and repairs bone damage caused by gum disease. A periodontist or an oral surgeon often performs this procedure.
Tooth removal (extraction). If gum disease has loosened or severely damaged a tooth, your dentist may need to remove the tooth. If the procedure is complicated or risky, an oral or maxillofacial surgeon may do the extraction.

I have no idea how old u r but get that taken care of beause i am losing my teeth and some r falling out. ALL because i have lost my dental insurance. THAt DENTAL disease is serious . IT causes absessed teeth and loss of teeth.LOOK its costing me 6,000 at the moment 4 the damage. I am under 30 years old.

I had that done and my it was horrible and I wish you well and a speedy recovery time,.

Sadly, gums cannot regenerate themselves, and the bones that hold your beautiful teeth in place will not reform. But, if caught soon enough (before your teeth fall out of your head), gum disease can be stopped dead in its tracks, pockets will close up, gums will become toned and healthy, and the former threat of bone loss will no longer exist.

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