I am losing bone mass underneath my gumline (mostly on one tooth).?

Question

I am seeing a specialist who recommends doing deep cleaning under my gums and building my bone mass back up. This procedure is going to cost me $3,000. Is it worth spending $3,000 for this procedure or am I just trying to hold off the inevitable?

Answer 1

It is probably worth the $3,000. It sounds like you have periodontitis, an inflammation of the tissues surrounding the tooth caused by bacterial invasion. You probably have severe calculus (calcified plaque) build-up on the roots of your teeth. Deep cleaning is something that should be and is done on a pretty regular basis (depending on the level of your oral hygiene, those who are very good brushers and flossers and are less prone to caries rarely have to have deep cleanings). However, the fact that you mention your specialist tells you that you need bone mass built back up suggests that your periodontitis has progressed to a pretty serious state. The inflammation that your immune system uses to combat the bacteria, as well as the irritation of the calculus on your gingiva and the by-products of the bacteria themselves, can cause actual bone to be destroyed. This bone supports your teeth and without some serious work, it is going to regress even more, resulting eventually in the loss of your teeth. However, that is not the worst part of it. The infiltration of your cardiovascular system by bacteria is potentially a bigger risk. I'm not a specialist (just a first year dental student actually), but I don't know whether or not the bone mass build-up is absolutely necessary. Definitely the deep cleaning is, and serious work on your part in keeping your teeth and gingiva clean.
As for the financial aspect of your question, $3,000 sounds like a pretty good deal for the work that your specialist recommended. However, it won't cost you much to get another opinion. Go see another specialist. If your doctor is a decent one, he will fully support you in doing so.
One other thing, do you live in or near a large city? If so, chances are there is a dental school nearby. You can often get treatment at a substantially reduced rate in the student clinic, even though you might have to wait a couple of months. And believe it or not, since students are being closely supervised by well-experienced doctors and you are in an academic setting, you can usually get treatment that is fully equal to, if not superior to treatment from a private doctor. Look into it.

Answer 2

I would get a second opinion but I needed that done 10 years ago and now I am having to have all of my front top and bottom teeth pulled and a permanent bridge on top and bottom and crowns and root canals on all of the other teeth. The cost is $30K which is killing us because our insurance does not cover one dime of this. I have never been as depressed in my life. I lost all of the bone on top up to my sinuses so I could not even wear dentures. Please don't put this off and be sorry like I am. Dee

Answer 3

You're not going to like the "deep cleaning", and when a dentist told me that I needed that done, I told a pharmacist friend of mine and he sold me a "toothbrush" that was a small coned brush at the end of a metal handle and told me how to use that brush between my teeth with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I can't remember the "exacts" or details of it now since that was around 20 years ago, but I did what the pharmacist said and all is fine and I never had that "deep cleaning", and the cost in the way I did it was around $15.00 or so. It may cost a bit more now since prices have risen, but not much more. And I met numerous people who also did it that way, with success, and no "deep cleaning" which is painful and expensive and messy. Now, I'm not saying the same remedy will work for you, but the situation you presented in your question sounded too familiar for me not to answer you. I don't know how much bone loss you're experiencing, so . . ., but the "diagnosis" from your dentist sounded exactly like mine, and many people I met later, and the remedy worked for all of us, so, you might want to check it out with your pharmacist or someone else you might know and trust. God Bless you.