Aa
Periodonal treatment options...
I'm 30 years old, non-smoker, very healthy guy...but i have a moderate case of gum disease. Most likely hereditary from my Dad who struggled with it for many years before losing his teeth. I have 5 & 6 mm pockets, and they are still very red and tender. I had a planing & scaling done in November of 07, some improvement, then back to square 1. Dentist did another planing & scaling in March (free of charge because the first time didn't work), again...some improvement, but then it went back to the normal state. I've been extremely dilligent on my home care - brushing with Sonicare twice daily, flossing twice daily, brushing w/ peroxide and baking soda, taking multi vitamins, etc. Nothing seems to help. According the my x rays, I have some bone loss, but it's still somewhat early. My Dentist thinks I'm maintaining, not getting worse.
I went for a consult to a periodondist, and he's reccomending surgery (cutting). I've been told once you go down this path, it's likely to lead to more cutting in the future. Starting this at age 30 doesn't thrill me.
I went for another consult today to a specialist who does the Periolase treatmenet with a laser. This seems like a less invasive approach and doesn't result in as much gum loss. She claims pockets are reduced on average by 50%, less painful, and faster recovery. This sounds like an appealing option, but I'm wondering how proven this approach is? Anyone know of the pros / cons of this type of procedure?
Any other options to consider?
I went for a consult to a periodondist, and he's reccomending surgery (cutting). I've been told once you go down this path, it's likely to lead to more cutting in the future. Starting this at age 30 doesn't thrill me.
I went for another consult today to a specialist who does the Periolase treatmenet with a laser. This seems like a less invasive approach and doesn't result in as much gum loss. She claims pockets are reduced on average by 50%, less painful, and faster recovery. This sounds like an appealing option, but I'm wondering how proven this approach is? Anyone know of the pros / cons of this type of procedure?
Any other options to consider?
I guess it won't let me paste the link. Here's my writeup:
So I had the procedure done this morning on half of my mouth. It wasn't too uncomfortable or painful...just a little. Procedure went like this:
- Shots to numb up half my mouth. Needles were kind of painful, but not terrible. Hurts a little while they do it, but the pain is gone as soon as they pull the needle out. The shots had epinefrum (sp?) in them which made me jittery and my heart raced a bit. Actually had a hot flash (and I'm a guy!), but it passed. They said this is normal.
- Laser was used between teeth and gums to zap and kill the diseased tissue. This only hurt on areas where there wasn't enough novacane. Where it hurt, I raised my hand and they numbed me up more. The smell was pretty nasty. The laser is basically killing the diseased tissue (I wanted to say cooking it, but that sounds pretty nasty). She put some vicks vapor rub underneath my nose to make the smell more tolerable.
- Deep root planing & scaling. When they say deep, they mean DEEP. She went down to the bone. Very forceful procedure to scrape away all the plaque & tartar below the gum line. Not painful since I was numb, just very forceful. There were times when the novacane was wearing off so they had to retreat the areas. By this time, I could not feel any of the needles.
- Another laser treatment used to help the healing process begin.
- They checked my bite and grinded high spots on my teeth.
Tomorrow I'm going back to have the 2nd half of my mouth done. All I have to say is thank GOD for novacane! I could not imagine having this done without pain meds.
I'm home now. The right side of my face is pretty swolen, but I'm not in much pain. My mouth bled LOTS during the procedure though. Like profusely. Most of the bleeding has stopped now, but I've got some nasty blood clots around the gum lines and 1 of my teeth is completely coated in blood that's clotted. Feels gross, but this is what she wants to see. The clots appranently help with the healing process. She'll probably remove some of the clot that's coated 1 of my entire teeth tomorrow during my next visit. I don't want to touch anything at this point.
I'm not supposed to brush for 10 days, and not rinse until Friday. They gave me a prescription strength PerioRX rinse which is all I'm supposed to do for 10 days. No brush or flossing what so ever. Then they will give me special instructions on how to brush & floss after the 10 day period. Apparently it's very important to not distrub the healing process. She also put me on a prescription antibiotic to take for 1 month. Lastly, she has me on some PerioTherapy Vitamins to help attack this from the inside. I feel like I'm waging an all out war agains this disease!
I'm only supposed to drink liquids for 3 days - they want no food getting caught in the pockets. Then for 7 days, it's mush food only - eggs, yogurt, etc. I think I'm going to be very hungry!
I really hope this procedure does the trick. She checked my pockets before and I have 4mm up to 8mm pockets. The xrays showed significant bone loss - she said I was as stage 3 (1 being the least worst, 4 being the worst...I think). Some of my teeth are slightly mobile, but this procedure is supposed to help stablize and hopefully firm up my loose teeth. She won't probe again for 9 months or so, but said we should see 50% pocket reduction and bone density should increase to stablize any more damage.
I'll post again on my check-ups to track progress. If any of you are religious out there, say a prayer for me!
So I had the procedure done this morning on half of my mouth. It wasn't too uncomfortable or painful...just a little. Procedure went like this:
- Shots to numb up half my mouth. Needles were kind of painful, but not terrible. Hurts a little while they do it, but the pain is gone as soon as they pull the needle out. The shots had epinefrum (sp?) in them which made me jittery and my heart raced a bit. Actually had a hot flash (and I'm a guy!), but it passed. They said this is normal.
- Laser was used between teeth and gums to zap and kill the diseased tissue. This only hurt on areas where there wasn't enough novacane. Where it hurt, I raised my hand and they numbed me up more. The smell was pretty nasty. The laser is basically killing the diseased tissue (I wanted to say cooking it, but that sounds pretty nasty). She put some vicks vapor rub underneath my nose to make the smell more tolerable.
- Deep root planing & scaling. When they say deep, they mean DEEP. She went down to the bone. Very forceful procedure to scrape away all the plaque & tartar below the gum line. Not painful since I was numb, just very forceful. There were times when the novacane was wearing off so they had to retreat the areas. By this time, I could not feel any of the needles.
- Another laser treatment used to help the healing process begin.
- They checked my bite and grinded high spots on my teeth.
Tomorrow I'm going back to have the 2nd half of my mouth done. All I have to say is thank GOD for novacane! I could not imagine having this done without pain meds.
I'm home now. The right side of my face is pretty swolen, but I'm not in much pain. My mouth bled LOTS during the procedure though. Like profusely. Most of the bleeding has stopped now, but I've got some nasty blood clots around the gum lines and 1 of my teeth is completely coated in blood that's clotted. Feels gross, but this is what she wants to see. The clots appranently help with the healing process. She'll probably remove some of the clot that's coated 1 of my entire teeth tomorrow during my next visit. I don't want to touch anything at this point.
I'm not supposed to brush for 10 days, and not rinse until Friday. They gave me a prescription strength PerioRX rinse which is all I'm supposed to do for 10 days. No brush or flossing what so ever. Then they will give me special instructions on how to brush & floss after the 10 day period. Apparently it's very important to not distrub the healing process. She also put me on a prescription antibiotic to take for 1 month. Lastly, she has me on some PerioTherapy Vitamins to help attack this from the inside. I feel like I'm waging an all out war agains this disease!
I'm only supposed to drink liquids for 3 days - they want no food getting caught in the pockets. Then for 7 days, it's mush food only - eggs, yogurt, etc. I think I'm going to be very hungry!
I really hope this procedure does the trick. She checked my pockets before and I have 4mm up to 8mm pockets. The xrays showed significant bone loss - she said I was as stage 3 (1 being the least worst, 4 being the worst...I think). Some of my teeth are slightly mobile, but this procedure is supposed to help stablize and hopefully firm up my loose teeth. She won't probe again for 9 months or so, but said we should see 50% pocket reduction and bone density should increase to stablize any more damage.
I'll post again on my check-ups to track progress. If any of you are religious out there, say a prayer for me!
I had my Periolase treatment yesterday & today. Feeling OK, but wiped out.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I hope things turn out great! Yes, definitely let me know how it goes.
Thanks for the feedback.
I've been researching the Periolase treatments like crazy this weekend and think I'm definitely going to do it. The studies are veryimpressive and the people I spoke with actually had bone regrowth and tissue reattachment. I'm really stressing about this condition worsening so hopefully this will provide some improvement to my condition.
She did mention that part of the procedure would include Periodex and an oral Antibiotic that I would take. Hopefully that will help too. The scaling / planing & home care clearly hasn't done enough. I'll post back in a few months once I have some results for you.
Thanks again,
Tim
I've been researching the Periolase treatments like crazy this weekend and think I'm definitely going to do it. The studies are veryimpressive and the people I spoke with actually had bone regrowth and tissue reattachment. I'm really stressing about this condition worsening so hopefully this will provide some improvement to my condition.
She did mention that part of the procedure would include Periodex and an oral Antibiotic that I would take. Hopefully that will help too. The scaling / planing & home care clearly hasn't done enough. I'll post back in a few months once I have some results for you.
Thanks again,
Tim
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I found a few research articles and it seems to provide some fairly good results overall.
I think the most important thing is that you find a periodontist that you like and trust. Afterall, the laser does the work but its the dentist that will actually perform the procedure. I'm sure whichever method you choose will work out fine as long as you find a good periodontist to do it.
I would recommend being placed on periodex to help control bacteria. Also, in the end, sometimes just plain maintenance is all you can achieve. But as long as the disease isn't active and getting worse, that sometimes is the best case scenario even if you have "pocketing."
Hope that helps.
I think the most important thing is that you find a periodontist that you like and trust. Afterall, the laser does the work but its the dentist that will actually perform the procedure. I'm sure whichever method you choose will work out fine as long as you find a good periodontist to do it.
I would recommend being placed on periodex to help control bacteria. Also, in the end, sometimes just plain maintenance is all you can achieve. But as long as the disease isn't active and getting worse, that sometimes is the best case scenario even if you have "pocketing."
Hope that helps.
My consult with the Periodontist was very brief. He started talking immediately about cuttting (as my Dentist predicted). No other treatment options were discussed, such as antibiotics or oral mout rinses (such as Peridex, etc).
Yes,we've reviewed my techniques in great detail (several times actually). Several additional factors impacting my problem are that I grind my teeth when I sleep, although I do now wear a mouth guard. I'm also a mouth breather when I sleep, but I'm now using breath rights and am making a conscious effort to breath through my nose.
The Periolase consult was very interesting. I blindly called a testimonial they listed in one of thier write ups..local guy, who had Gum surgery several years back, the pockets worsened, and he had the laser surgery. It's been 2 years since he had surgery and his pockets reduced dramatically and has no bleeding. Here's a good review on PerioLase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJsFLnKwkaE let me know what you think or what other options might be worth considering.
Yes,we've reviewed my techniques in great detail (several times actually). Several additional factors impacting my problem are that I grind my teeth when I sleep, although I do now wear a mouth guard. I'm also a mouth breather when I sleep, but I'm now using breath rights and am making a conscious effort to breath through my nose.
The Periolase consult was very interesting. I blindly called a testimonial they listed in one of thier write ups..local guy, who had Gum surgery several years back, the pockets worsened, and he had the laser surgery. It's been 2 years since he had surgery and his pockets reduced dramatically and has no bleeding. Here's a good review on PerioLase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJsFLnKwkaE let me know what you think or what other options might be worth considering.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Im not familiar with the Periolase treatment so I cannot comment on it.
Has your specialist also given you the option of using antibiotics either locally delivered such as Arrestin or Atridox or perhaps taking low dose antibiotics orally?
Gum surgery is the next progressive step in managing the disease. I was wondering if they might want to try that first. It sounds like your oral hygiene is excellent. Have you reviewed your techniques to ensure that you are effectively removing as much plaque/tartar with the time spent?
Let me see if I can find out more about the periolase treatment.
Has your specialist also given you the option of using antibiotics either locally delivered such as Arrestin or Atridox or perhaps taking low dose antibiotics orally?
Gum surgery is the next progressive step in managing the disease. I was wondering if they might want to try that first. It sounds like your oral hygiene is excellent. Have you reviewed your techniques to ensure that you are effectively removing as much plaque/tartar with the time spent?
Let me see if I can find out more about the periolase treatment.
A related discussion, Periodontics was started.
Hi -
Interesting procedure. I am basically in the same situation as you are, with the deep pockets and my dentist(s) suggest I have all my teeth taken out and replaced with implants. I'm 46 and I hate to say it but somehow I feel that they are pushing the business more than the treatment because implants, since not covered by insurance, is a "cash" business for them.
Anyway, been surfing for an alternative and I believe you just gave me something to research. Hope you are doing well with your procedure and please, let us all know how it is healing. All the best..
Interesting procedure. I am basically in the same situation as you are, with the deep pockets and my dentist(s) suggest I have all my teeth taken out and replaced with implants. I'm 46 and I hate to say it but somehow I feel that they are pushing the business more than the treatment because implants, since not covered by insurance, is a "cash" business for them.
Anyway, been surfing for an alternative and I believe you just gave me something to research. Hope you are doing well with your procedure and please, let us all know how it is healing. All the best..
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Heya,
Great. Sounds like they did a pretty good job with everything. Just make sure you follow up with the home care instructions and do your part in maintaining your periodontal disease. I know from your previous posts that you've been doing a good solid job. Make sure to keep up the good work.
Hope things turn out great for you.
Great. Sounds like they did a pretty good job with everything. Just make sure you follow up with the home care instructions and do your part in maintaining your periodontal disease. I know from your previous posts that you've been doing a good solid job. Make sure to keep up the good work.
Hope things turn out great for you.
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