Thursday 6 October 2011
Monday 3 October 2011
My teeth had never been so clean but my gums were still receding!
I was getting pretty desperate to turn back the tide of my receding gums and trawled the Internet for new products and advice.
I bought a gel and mouthwash (for use after oral surgery) that claims to help the gums grow back. It didn't.
A friend suggested I may be aggravating my gums and causing the problem myself. She advised me to go low tech by using a soft hand held toothbrush, wooden interdental sticks and, if that didn't resolve it, an oral irrigator. This made sense but, when I asked my hygienist for her opinion, she said my gums would be in an even worse state by now if I hadn't kept up my aggressive cleaning regime.
I was getting pretty stressed out. I was receiving conflicting advice and if I took the wrong course of action tooth loss was sure to follow.
My next purchase was an oral irrigator (£70). This is the mini version of your good old pressure washer. It has a small pen shaped nozzle coming from the tank that squirts a high pressure water jet (warm water and herbal mouthwash) in between your teeth. This really is one hell of a device and makes you feel like you are doing dental hygiene the American way. It makes your mouth feel incredibly clean.
What the oral irrigator did not produce was all the bacteria that must be lurking in my gums. I had no foul taste in my mouth and wasn't totally confident that this was going to be enough to firm up my gums and keep my teeth in place.
I went back to my old dental practice and was seen by a senior partner. He looked horrified by gum recession and took measurements. Seven was the most common number and eight, nine and ten were pretty regular too. He also confirmed that two teeth were wobbly.
It was time to see the hygienist again for some more deep cleaning. I received eight injections in one quarter of my mouth and was left weeping and shaking in the waiting room. I don't know if this was because my gums were so swollen, or whether I had reacted to the anesthetic, but I knew it was unlikely I would be able to withstand the other three treatments I would need. The hygienist cleaned under the gums of a quarter of my mouth and was very sympathetic to my condition. She showed my how to pull the floss right under my gums (much easier and less painful than it sounds) but could not give me any hope that I was going to be able to stop my gums receding.
With visions of having missing teeth by the age of 43, I decided to take decisive action and get another opinion. I had met Hani Mostafa at a party where he had talked excitedly about a new method for cleaning your teeth that had helped so many of his patients. He seemed passionate about dentistry and a couple of friends had raved about him. So I made the call that would save my teeth and get me writing this blog!
A friend suggested I may be aggravating my gums and causing the problem myself. She advised me to go low tech by using a soft hand held toothbrush, wooden interdental sticks and, if that didn't resolve it, an oral irrigator. This made sense but, when I asked my hygienist for her opinion, she said my gums would be in an even worse state by now if I hadn't kept up my aggressive cleaning regime.
I was getting pretty stressed out. I was receiving conflicting advice and if I took the wrong course of action tooth loss was sure to follow.
My next purchase was an oral irrigator (£70). This is the mini version of your good old pressure washer. It has a small pen shaped nozzle coming from the tank that squirts a high pressure water jet (warm water and herbal mouthwash) in between your teeth. This really is one hell of a device and makes you feel like you are doing dental hygiene the American way. It makes your mouth feel incredibly clean.
What the oral irrigator did not produce was all the bacteria that must be lurking in my gums. I had no foul taste in my mouth and wasn't totally confident that this was going to be enough to firm up my gums and keep my teeth in place.
I went back to my old dental practice and was seen by a senior partner. He looked horrified by gum recession and took measurements. Seven was the most common number and eight, nine and ten were pretty regular too. He also confirmed that two teeth were wobbly.
It was time to see the hygienist again for some more deep cleaning. I received eight injections in one quarter of my mouth and was left weeping and shaking in the waiting room. I don't know if this was because my gums were so swollen, or whether I had reacted to the anesthetic, but I knew it was unlikely I would be able to withstand the other three treatments I would need. The hygienist cleaned under the gums of a quarter of my mouth and was very sympathetic to my condition. She showed my how to pull the floss right under my gums (much easier and less painful than it sounds) but could not give me any hope that I was going to be able to stop my gums receding.
With visions of having missing teeth by the age of 43, I decided to take decisive action and get another opinion. I had met Hani Mostafa at a party where he had talked excitedly about a new method for cleaning your teeth that had helped so many of his patients. He seemed passionate about dentistry and a couple of friends had raved about him. So I made the call that would save my teeth and get me writing this blog!
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Black holes and wobbly teeth
My dental problems started with bleeding gums and progressed to black holes and wobbly teeth. I have been very aware that my gums are receding for the last two years and have gotten used to spending 15 minutes or more, a night, on a cleaning regime. At first I just flossed and used an electric toothbrush but when holes appeared between my teeth I started using interdental brushes. It wasn't long before I needed the thick blue ones and had to use them regularly to dislodge the days debris.
My cleaning regime was taking longer and longer, and becoming more and more expensive as I tried every new product on the market, but my gums continued to bleed and recede at an alarming rate. My roots had started to appear and my once bright white teeth were tinged with yellow at the top. They became more sensitive to hot and cold and I started to worry about what I ate.
As if this wasn't bad enough I had begun to sound neurotic. Every trip to the dentist found me spilling my heartfelt guts about how upset I was about what was happening to my teeth and saying that I was afraid I was going to lose them. I sounded mad and my dentist appeared helpless. I spent £120 on four visits to the hygienist where, under anesthetic, a quarter of my mouth was cleaned under the gums. A year later and my gums had receded so much that the hygienist was concerned there could be an underlying medical problem. X-rays showed massive bone loss in my jaw and the holes between my teeth were just getting larger all the time. My G.P tested me for Diabetes and Cholesterol but both results came back fine. I went to the hygienist again and she confirmed that my gums were receding very fast but said that my oral hygiene was excellent and that she was at a loss as to how to stop it.
My cleaning regime was taking longer and longer, and becoming more and more expensive as I tried every new product on the market, but my gums continued to bleed and recede at an alarming rate. My roots had started to appear and my once bright white teeth were tinged with yellow at the top. They became more sensitive to hot and cold and I started to worry about what I ate.
As if this wasn't bad enough I had begun to sound neurotic. Every trip to the dentist found me spilling my heartfelt guts about how upset I was about what was happening to my teeth and saying that I was afraid I was going to lose them. I sounded mad and my dentist appeared helpless. I spent £120 on four visits to the hygienist where, under anesthetic, a quarter of my mouth was cleaned under the gums. A year later and my gums had receded so much that the hygienist was concerned there could be an underlying medical problem. X-rays showed massive bone loss in my jaw and the holes between my teeth were just getting larger all the time. My G.P tested me for Diabetes and Cholesterol but both results came back fine. I went to the hygienist again and she confirmed that my gums were receding very fast but said that my oral hygiene was excellent and that she was at a loss as to how to stop it.
Monday 12 September 2011
Hold onto your teeth
holdontoyourteeth.blogspot.com is about how I have saved my teeth by using the new Gumsaver toothbrush. In only a matter of weeks I have dramatically reduced the swelling in my gums and firmed up the gums around two frighteningly wobbly teeth.
To thank my dentist, Dr Hani Mostafa, for giving me a prototype of his new (soon to be on the market) Gumsaver toothbrush (and saving me from the shame and embarrassment of tooth loss) I have offered to write a blog charting the highs and lows of my experiences using the Gumsaver brush. This blog will include postings of the diary I have been writing and will start with my decline into black holes and wobbly teeth.
To thank my dentist, Dr Hani Mostafa, for giving me a prototype of his new (soon to be on the market) Gumsaver toothbrush (and saving me from the shame and embarrassment of tooth loss) I have offered to write a blog charting the highs and lows of my experiences using the Gumsaver brush. This blog will include postings of the diary I have been writing and will start with my decline into black holes and wobbly teeth.
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