Hi! Thank you for your availability.
I am going to get dental bridges or dental implants. The problem is I am thinking I do not need deep root planing as I have no bleeding or anything extraordinary going on with my gums. Other dentists haven’t said I needed anything like root planing. But in this office, the lady in the office said the dentist will not do my bridges until I did the deep root planing. I am afraid for the enamel on my teeth for all of that scratching and scraping for no apparent reason. Then unnecessary anesthesia and days off. Please advise. How do I know if I really need that deep root planing. There was nothing wrong with my gums. I had fast healing with the tooth extractions and there is no infection. I did not even need to take all of that antibiotic or pain meds. I feel like such a victim here. I want to get the bridges as soon as possible but all of that other is scaring me that it is ruining my good teeth.
Mary from Louisiana
Mary,
There is much neglect going on in the dental profession with regard to gum disease. Because there are often no symptoms to gum disease until it is quite advanced, many dentists don’t like to deal with it. It’s so hard to convince skeptical people like you that they need gum disease treatment, and they face pressure from insurance companies to shortcut this area. So their life is simpler if they just don’t deal with it.
I can’t tell from here whether you have gum disease or not. But if you wait until you have symptoms, it will be too late to save your teeth. Yes, there is trust needed in this dentist-patient relationship. From what you told me, it sounds like your dentist has principles and is trustworthy. Here’s the way I see your case. The profit in your case is in the bridgework or the implants. The dentist who is it it only for the profit motive would want to get you as quickly as possible into this expensive work. Insisting that you have the root planing first is taking a very real risk that you will bail out before completing the treatment. To me, this is an evidence of your dentist’s integrity. Implants are also vulnerable to gum disease, and gum disease should be brought under control before any implant surgery is undertaken. Why go through all the expensive bridge and implant work only to have your teeth and implants fall out later due to gum disease?