I am ashamed to say that last February, after a year of dental scaling and such, I still had deep pockets between tooth and gum and was at risk for bone loss. Some of the pockets (you know when they go around your teeth and call out the numbers? Some of mine were at 5 and 6. A couple were as deep as 9.
I had to give in to the dire assessment of my dentist and make a appointment with the Periodontist. The news from him was bad - I needed to have my entire mouth full of gums surgically cut open in order to clean them deeply and then stitched back together. You think that sounds bad? The price tag - no insurance - was $6000.
But I had to do it. I did the whole mouth all at once, skipped the opportunity to be knocked out (more money and I'm tough.) It took and hour for the procedure, then I went to work. I didn't last long at work...But I went back the next day. The healing process was long, slow and uncomfortable.
However! I am proud to say that my check up today shows the huge improvement. My pockets are all between 2 and 4. It is so nice to get positive news from the oral hygienist. I wanted a little sticker to put on my shirt "I had a good checkup."
And I have almost paid off the periodontist.
3 comments:
Gaaahhh.. no knock-out gas? You are a brave one.
I'm going to go floss right now.
That's great news! My husband has struggled with the periodontal issues for years and having a good check up is a big deal.
I have my teeth cleaned every 3 months, have had $15,000 dollars in oral surgeries (that's AFTER insurance), have Arestin injected at all my cleanings. and never fail to floss my teeth and use my Sonicare toothbrush. I still have a couple of pockets at 5.
I'm thinking it's genetic.
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