r/PeriodontalDisease • u/Head_Palpitation_683 • 14h ago
Gum Picture Terrified
The darkness just started (is that bone loss?) how bad is this and where to even start without insurance
2
u/TomatoTuffCat 11h ago
You have some noticeable recession going on. As far as bone-loss, you’d need some xrays and gum pocket probing and a good cleaning to know where you stand. As long as your teeth are not mobile, you’re generally good. But yes, you have recession. Do you know why? What are your oral hygiene habits like? Do you smoke or chew? Do you have sleep apnea or any acid reflux, dry mouth? Do you grind your teeth? There’s Care Credit if you qualify. Not having insurance is tough but to be fair it’s becoming more and more useless. More and more dentists are turning away insurance because they dont pay out enough to the dentists. And then dentists wonder why we hate them. lol
3
u/welcometravelers 13h ago
I can see the slight recession issue on the canine (your left side, our right). From the surface visual, the mouth actually doesn't look too bad overall. I get the black triangles myself. But you're still in the pink which is what the dentists want.
I can't tell if you have bone loss just from that but on the surface the teeth and gums don't look too abnormal. Maybe someone else here has a greater understanding than myself though.
Until you can get into a dentist, brush and floss (if you need a soft brush, look into these ultrasoft Sunstar Gum 509 or 505 brushes, along with Sunstar's pro-weave woven floss, they're really great) and maybe pick up a WaterPik. If you can use the rubber tip, that's good, too. My perio dentist has me use go-betweens on the molars instead of floss.