Periodontal help!?!
Question: live in rochester, ny & am a full time student (ie no insurance) and have been referred to a periodontist for extreme jaw bone loss with back molar problems. i also had tmj surgery due to a car accident in 2004. my father has had similar perio problems when he was about my age.
are these issues genetic or a result of severe tmj issues?
any suggestions on treatment options?
periodontist specialist in my area?
ANY advice would be helpful!!!
Answers: live in rochester, ny & am a full time student (ie no insurance) and have been referred to a periodontist for extreme jaw bone loss with back molar problems. i also had tmj surgery due to a car accident in 2004. my father has had similar perio problems when he was about my age.
are these issues genetic or a result of severe tmj issues?
any suggestions on treatment options?
periodontist specialist in my area?
ANY advice would be helpful!!!
Yes periodontal disease can be genetic, however the gene does not necessarily have to be turned on unless you have other circumstances like: smoking, lack of flossing, lack of routine dental care etc. Periodontal disease also can be made worse by trauma to the teeth, or jaw. You may have already had the beginning stages of periodontal disease when you had the trauma to the jaw which could have made things worse. Or the jaw problems could have led to the perio problems via not being able to brush and floss properly due to the pain, bacterial invasion etc. The back teeth are a common area to have bone loss and periodontal problems. Your back teeth are important you need them to chew properly so don't let this go. I can't advise on any specialists in your area, however most dentists will send you to a periodontist that they use in the area. Depending on how severe your case is, the tx may be simple or complex. It could range from scaling and root planing to gum surgery or something in between.
FInd out if there is a School of Dentistry in your area. They often need patients. In my state I went to the School of Dentistry to get work done on my teeth.
I had been previously married to an abuser...long story short...I went head first into a rot iron door, chomped down on my teeth and caused tiny fractures in all of them. The local dentist tried to fix them, but the fractures kept causing chunks of my teeth to fall out. He'd fix them and the fix was only temporary. It was a vicious cirlce of fixing and repairing. It GOT EXPENSIVE even with insurance.
So, I went to the School of Dentistry (there is an interview process) and had the work done there. I had all, but 6 of my teeth pulled. It sounds worse than it was and I hate pain, especially my own.
Schools of Dentristry now cater to those who hate pain. They may take longer to get the work done, but they're monitored which in my opinion is often better than going to a dentist one would find in the phone book. They're also less expensive than regular dentists.
One local dentist wanted $20,000 for what I paid $4,000 at the School of Dentistry.
Check it out. Feel free to see my "before and after" shots on my blog