Guest guest Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Hi , Perhaps you're brushing your teeth too much. Our youngest son (in his 30's now), had the same problem without braces. He was excellent about cleaning his teeth. In his late twenties the dentist told him he was brushing too much, with too hard a toothbrush. He was experiencing major gum loss. It has been stopped now by the use of softer toothbrush and not as aggressive cleaning. I've had some gum loss over the years (I'm 62). Mine was due to the plaque, etc. I clean after each meal (and flossing) but also use a water pik, which has actually helped my gums (I also get my teeth cleaned every 3 mos while in braces). So far I've had no more gum/bone loss and surgery went fine. Shirley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 , Unfortunately, gum loss with braces is a very real possibility. I don't know about you, but in the waivers that I signed before having braces put on, it acknowledged that you could have gum loss. My orthodontist is a very wonderful man, and actually sent me to a periodontist before braces to have his opinion on whether this could happen to me. He felt I would be fine with braces. My problem though, is that now post surgery I have had quite a bit of gum loss, on the lower gums only (I only had lower jaw also). I also have gaps between my bottom teeth. One good thing that the periodontist did tell me is that skin grafts to repair gum loss is in most cases fairly simple, and not terribly expensive. At least not compared to the surgery costs to my OS. Maybe you could ask your dentist or orthodontist to tell you the name of a skilled periodontist. It never hurts to get a professional opinion of what may be happening. Maybe he can suggest something to keep it from worsening. Connie > Hi everyone, > > I am almost 6 months into braces, still walking the line between surgery and orthodontic > correction (I have a mild class-III, which may or may not be correctable with orthodontics > alone). Right now I'm into heavy elastics which we're going to give another month to see if > they fix anything. > > However, after going to my dentist for a cleaning, I was shocked--- really shocked---by > the fact that the gums on my lower front teeth have really receded since getting braces. (I > have actual bands around the lower front teeth because I have lingual " reminders " > mounted to them to stop me from a tongue thrust). The dentist showed me " before and > after " pictures and in the last 6 months I have lost several millimeters of gum. It's like > there's a huge gap between my lower teeth at the bottom of the teeth. > > The dentist said that I am doing an exceptional job cleaning my teeth, and in fact he's > never seen somebody with braces with no plaque between their bands. I brush my teeth > after every meal, before I go to bed, and when I wake up (so 5x day). I floss at least once a > day, and I use Listerine twice a day...so what's going on? > > My dentist said that gum loss often goes along with braces; is this true? My teeth are > straight and I had orthodontics before (10 years ago) with no issues...I'm really scared. > > Thanks, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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