Recently found out I have pretty advanced gum recession on my lower teeth. Never noticed it nor pulled my lips down to inspect my gums. I was too busy worrying about everything else apparently!

I have an appointment with a periodontist and am quite apprehensive about what I might hear. My "old school" dentist and hygienist of 20 years never once talked to me about gums or gum recession. Not once. No mention of "pockets" or "millimeters" or calling out numbers (from everyone else I talk to, this is the norm at their dental visits). I just brushed my teeth and flossed and went to the dentist every 8 months or so. Yeah, I know, twice a year is the norm. The new hygienist pointed it out last month. I was in shock when I saw it.

I also have an appt. at a top dental school here in Boston, in the postgrad clinic where practicing dentists become periodontist.

Anyone have any info or can share if this reportedly awful procedure is necessary? My dentist says in 31 years he has never seen gum recession lead to losing teeth. At first he said he did not recommend having the surgery and then he did an about face and said I may need it on 6 teeth. Of course, I do not have dental insurance.

thanks...

Yes, I know! I wish I had gone to a different one years ago.

All I can say is be careful of the suggestions you get in the dental profession as they do look for 'employment opportunities' in your mouth. I find the most useful people in the dental profession are the hygienists who clean the teeth. Dental profession says to go 2X a year for cleaning but 4X a year is probably better because it 's the hygienist who can remove all the terrible tartar and pathogenic bacteria that hide in the dead plaque (tartar) and those are the things that eat the gums and tooth structures. The hygienist should also measure the pocket for you. Keep a record of the pocket measurements. Ideally, you don't want any of the pockets to be more than 3mm.

I'm very angry and distrustful of the dental profession because I attribute my TEETH LOSS to their advice. I let dentists replace my GOOD old fillings and THOSE ARE THE TEETH that continued to BREAK DOWN (cavities under the new fillings) repeatedly. Of the 3 molars I DID NOT LET THE DENTISTS TOUCH, those teeth never gave me trouble (molars). So, now they want to refill some more of my old fillings (the ones I never let them touch) but since my evidence based history tells me that the teeth that had ALL THE PROBLEMS were the ones I let dentists replace the fillings and the ones where I did not let them touch had no problems, I'm not letting them touch the ones I never let them touch before as those are the ones that are doing better than the ones I let the dentists change prior.

I feel that IF I had NEVER ALLOWED the dentist to remove fillings (because they were 'old') that were giving me no problems, I would have not experienced the tooth loss I've experienced to date.

A lot of these periodontists are not worth their salt either as they don't even do an assay of the gram negative periodontal pathogenic bacteria in the mouth and those are the bacteria that do the most harm.

Who's to say grafting the gums is not going to make a DEEPER periodontal pocket.

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I've been having problems with computer since May. I'm on a loaner now and still waiting for a new one. If I don't get back to you or am not on board, it would be most likely due to another computer problem.

Geez, Bug, that sounds agonizing.

I had to have (artificial) bone graft once (not gum) to the area above one of my front teeth and had to have a BUNCH of numbing shots in the roof of my mouth. A few days later, due to epinephrine, the entire roof of my mouth sloughed off (HURT awful). So, maybe he could not numb you for fear of the possible sloughing affect? Just guessing, no clue why he would not numb you oherwise.

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The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. ~Socrates~ (I pretend to be a cat with a lime carved as a helmet on my head)

Just a thought. Google up baking soda rinsing for receding gums. Years ago, my brother in law was having this same type issue as you are describing (maybe not as invasive) and I found an article in the paper about this type treatment. He showed it to his dentist and the dentist agreed for him to give it a try. He was lucky and ended up not needing his procedure.

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Generally you can trust what they tell you at a dental school but I had an odd experience at NYU last year. I went there for a crown and they said I needed a root planing as I was in danger of losing teeth. I thought this was odd as the school I go to for cleanings never mentioned this so I got a second opinion at NJ dental school and sure enough, NYU was telling stories to drum up guinea pigs. If anyone is considering NYU, try Columbia instead. NYU is riding on past reputation.

On top of it they were rude to me and arrogant. Not a good combination lol. People say they were fabulous a while back.

DCNGA: You are exactly right! I figured there was a medical reason as to why the area where skin flap was taken was NOT injected! He wanted a perfect slab of meat with no compromise in circulation to stitch on top of my gums. Owwieowwieoweeee. I'll never forget the sensation.

That baking soda rinse sounds very intriguing! I may give that a try. My gum recession now is age-related, but I've just had to live with it by switching to Sensodyne toothpaste, a softer brush, and less aggressive scrubbing.

Good ideas, these!

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I Bug U

Thank you...I heard some people say it wasn't that bad and others say it was torture. I won't rush into anything...and I can work at home for as long as it takes to recover. I am glad that your gum grafts worked. So the wound on the roof of your mouth completely healed OK? I have this fear that my mouth will never feel the same.

By the way, I asked my dentist about the inevitability of gum recession with age. I said "does this just happen with age?" He said "No". He felt mine was anatomic, as the teeth point into towards the tongue, then the gum followed the bone, or something like that. He did say I had some bone loss which is perhaps why he changed his tune about me needing the grafts. But then he pointed out he is not a perio and does not do this type of surgery.

I am feeling now like I have to apologize to him for my accusation that they did not point this process out to me as I can't believe it happened in the course of 1.3 years. There had to have been some signs, in my opinion. You don't just all of a sudden lose your gums between the ages of 47 and 48.

He has not replied to my last email and I have a feeling they don't want to deal with me since I expressed my displeasure. I know I need to find a new dentist but the good thing, I think, about this dentist I have been doing to is he won't do unnecessary procedures.