I moved and started with a new dentist. He insists I have gum disease and need to come in every two months, instead of every six. If this was really that serious, why didn’t my previous dentist ever bring it up? He always gave me a clean bill of health. I can’t imagine any reason to go this often.

Brenda

Dear Brenda,

There are two possibilities here. One, your old dentist was a tad negligent. It’s possible your old dentist didn’t give your gums the attention he should have, allowing your gum disease to go unchecked. Believe it or not, that happens more often than it should.

A second possibility is your new dentist is incorrect. To find out which, is simply a matter of getting a second opinion. Some dentists will even give a free second opinion.

If it turns out your new dentist is correct, then he is literally saving your teeth. When you have severe gum disease, it ends up causing you to lose bone. This makes your teeth come loose. They can even fall out if the gum disease isn’t brought under control.

The thing to do in that case is see your dentist every two months in order to get it under control.

If You Ignore the Gum Disease

It is always the patient’s choice in how they move forward. I just want to make sure you understand the consequences of not treating it if that is what you decide.

As I mentioned above, you could lose your teeth. To replace them, have two main options. First, you can have removable dentures, even the best of which will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. Or second, you can have implant overdentures. These use around six dental implants to secure your dentures to your jaw.

The implant-supported dentures are the better option, however it requires surgery and is quite pricey.

You will save a ton of money by getting your gum disease treated.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.