Saving Loose Teeth - Question and Answer

The question asked below was due to this post on saving loose teeth due to periodontal disease.

*note, always be under the guidance of a good periodontist when dealing with these issues.
(a good dentist would be defined as one who cares more about your teeth and well-being than his own pocket book - one who will do what is right for you and not what is right for his / her bottom line). Yes, It's not always easy to find a doctor like that!

Question

Hi David:

I am a customer of yours, (Bought your Gum Disease book a long time ago), and need your opinion.

Here's my situation (condensed version):

I just moved to another state, so I had to find a new dentist. (FYI: Been with my old dentist for almost ten years, and he never did a pocket test on me.)

Was lucky enough to find a great one, but in doing so, I was given some very bad news.

I was given a pocket test, and found out that I am in the early stages of periodontal disease. At this juncture, I don't have any loose teeth, but they did find a few 4's, a couple 5's, and a couple of 7's. The rest are 2's and 3's.

So, they recommended that I see a Periodontist. I just consulted with one, and he recommended that I have gum surgery. He mentioned that the surgery is done in quadrants, 1 through 4, doing one quadrant per visit. Surgery for each quadrant is approximately $1200.

I also have an issue with one my wisdom teeth (Yes I still have all of them, and I am 61 years old). None of them hurt or really bother me, but every time I floss between the back gum of one of wisdom teeth, my floss smells bad. (no bleeding) I mentioned this to my new dentist, the hygienist, and the periodontist, and they all said that I might be better off having that tooth pulled out, but that I should consult with an oral surgeon to get his opinion on things.

With all that said, do you think the hydro-floss would help in my situation?

Will it really help to get my pocket numbers down, and maybe help to get rid of the smell that's coming from behind my wisdom tooth?

Thank you in advance for your help,

Name Witheld to insure privacy

Answer:

Hi (name withheld for privacy reasons),

The HF reduced my pockets to the point that my dentist said I didn’t need the expensive treatment she had previously recommended. (which also was to be done in quadrants)

I’ve talked to a lot of people over the years and the HF has worked for a majority of them.

Will it work for you? One can never be sure with human health. Each human body is different and works a little differently. So there are no absolute 100% guarantees on your outcome.

You just wrote that you are facing $4800 dollars worth of treatment plus a pulled wisdom tooth and I suppose an implant - that will probably cost you another $2000 or more dollars.

So, what do you think? Do you think it is worth it to get a $100 hydrofloss and try it out for 30 days to see if your pockets decrease

and perhaps maybe even the smell problem dissipates?

If so, how much money would you be saving? And your very own dentist will be able to tell you if those pockets have shrunk.

The answer to these questions seem obvious to me. But only you can make your own decisions.

I hope that made sense?

Whatever you decide, I would definitely suggest getting 2nd and 3rd opinions from qualified dentists (periodontists preferably) before having any expensive dental work done.

-David