Flossed, but still got the gum disease!!?

I floss my teeth everyday, but got recently got a gum disease. I had to pay over $1000 for several arestin shots. My dentist said if I do not have this shot, my gums will recede and my teeth will fall. On the other hand, my mom lives in overseas and never flossed in her life. She is over 65 years old and she has no major problems. She never goes to teeth cleaning. I know so many people like this in my country and they never get these shots and never catched this disease. Please comment.

I have a few comments. First of all, perhaps the level of diagnostic skill in your country has not risen to the point it has here. Second of all, I see many times when a foreigner comes here and abandons their native diet that they begin to develop dental problems like never before. Third of all, I have no idea if you are flossing correctly or if you are among the 8 in 10 adults for whom flossing is no longer enough to prevent periodontal disease. I wrote the rest of this answer for a previous question but most of it applies to the last statement I made, so please continue...

http://www.perio-aid.net/page2.html

Go here and click on the link about brushing, flossing, etc:

http://www.ada.org/public/games/animatio...

Also, add the use of a device to hold a toothpick to get under your gums. MOST adults have at least some degree of gum recession or pocket formation. I don't mean you are all walking around with flapping gums or anything, but most have pockets that would measure at least 3 mm deep. This is still considered healthy and normal by most standards. It is often a GOAL of periodontal treatment to get patients to the point where they have 3 mm pocket depths or less. The thing is, almost ALL of your teeth have concavities on the surface of the root once you get down to that level. Dental floss can only stretch from Point A to Point B and you simply can not force it to clean in any depression that exists between those two points. Go to this site and scroll down to the three "Large Tooth Models." http://www.anatomy-resources.com/human-a... God bless these people for accurately depicting this concavity on all three types of teeth. If you look carefully just beyond the point where the enamel ends, you will see that the root surfaces have slight dips in them - even on the incisor! This is the place where dental floss just can't clean.

Now go see what a Perio-Aid looks like at this site:

http://www.perio-aid.net/page2.html You will not find this in stores, but you may find something similar. Or, you can ask your dentist if he/she has Perio-Aids in the office. The web site does not really tell you how to use the Perio-Aid properly, but I can try. Load the thing as shown in illustration #2. Take the toothpick tip under your gum until you feel that you have bottomed out. Do not use any excessive force. You just want to get to the place where the gum attaches to the tooth. It SHOULD feel the same as it does where your skin joins your fingernail at the tip of your fingers. The exact same chemistry holds gums to teeth as holds skin to fingernails. Once you are touching bottom, just proceed around your tooth as if you are cleaning your fingernails, maintaining contact with the bottom of the pocket as well as the side of the tooth as you go. You should start all the way in the back of your mouth on the back of the back tooth and scallop around each tooth, tooth-by-tooth as you move towards the front of your mouth on the cheek sides of your teeth. Continue on around the arch. Once you get all the way to the other side, switch over so that you can clean the same teeth AGAIN, but by gaining access from the roof of your mouth. The toothpick can only go about half-way through the teeth and you need to clean them from both cheek side and palate side. After you are done with the uppers, of course, you will repeat the whole procedure with the lowers.

This will take a few minutes to do as you are learning, but eventually, it will only take about 2 minutes. When you first start to do this, it will most likely bleed. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THIS for the first 3-to-5 days. After the 5th-to-7th day, you should have virtually zero bleeding. If you still have bleeding, it is time to go ask your dentist what else needs to be done.

that sucks

Do you brush your teeth?
Maybe you should use one of those antiseptic mouthwash.
Because I think floss only works for your teeth not your gum.

maybe its the sugar in american diets... you can't escape it... sugar and lack of vitamins and calcium in the diet... i agree its unfair, i too sometimes am informed that i'm pre-gingivitis etc by my oh-so-eager/oh-so-expensive dentist. So ready he is to charge!!! Try using a sonic toothbrush and brushing with a toothpaste directed at gingivitis (i like Crest Pro-Health, but Colgate Total- not with whitening, the paste that tastes like crap is way better and works really really well and really really quickly). I find that this helps a lot with a receding gum line and my dentist begrudgingly admits that it makes a difference.

Have you ever tried the WaterPik? My dentist recommended that I try one. You will never have to floss again. I tend to floss too hard and end up with swollen gums. This WaterPik is supposed to be exellent for gum health. They are not real epensive, between $39 - $59.

sloppy joe: a waterpik is a great adjunctive aid to oral health care, but it in no way can replace flossing. Flossing is a must period. To the person that asked the question, Dr. Sam said everything that needed to be said period. Great answer. As a side note ask your dentist or hygienist to show you the proper way to floss. (if you aren't already)

Did you have cleanings regularly? If yes, then what evidence did your dentist present to you that indicated your arrestin shots?

I've seen a lot of exaggerated gum disease...people come to my office after going to certain (unnamed) dental groups complaining that they were pressured into thousands of dollars of treatment. I've seen "deep cleaning" cases that were comfortably done in less than fifteen minutes without anesthesia--that's a basic cleaning, folks.

Arrestin is meant to go in stubborn pockets of 5mm depth or more as an adjunct to periodontal cleaning. If you needed 20 shots of it (not that they hurt), something smells fishy.

I agree with Dr. Sam that your best bet is to take care of business at home every day, and to have regular cleanings.