So you finally got your dental anxiety in check and made time to see the dentist to get a teeth cleaning. To your surprise and annoyance, you don’t leave with a clean, minty-fresh mouth and a goody bag. Instead you’re refused a teeth cleaning and told that you have periodontal/gum disease. You leave with a brow-raising estimate for a “deep cleaning” and a loss of respect for modern healthcare.
By explaining and answering a couple frequently asked questions from patients diagnosed with periodontal disease, I'll help you understand why your visit went so against your plan and what to do to get back to a standard routine of teeth cleanings every 6 months.
Q: I don’t want the scaling and root planning procedure (deep cleaning). Why can’t I get a regular teeth cleaning? Isn’t some treatment better than NO treatment?
This notion that any teeth cleaning should be better than no cleaning seems reasonable but it is not the case with periodontal disease. In fact, the person who ignores proper periodontal treatment and/or replaces it with a routine cleaning is in serious trouble!
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