OT/ Cost of gum grafting with a periodontist

[maldorf]

Looks like I got the short end of genetics on gums too. My gums are prone to recession and the dentist has been watching them for the past 10 yrs. It has progressed to the point now that I need to have gum tissue surgically grafted. I need it on all of my molars, so thats 12 teeth.

I am making this thread to see if any of you have had this procdure done. I would like to know how recovery was for you and what the cost was like. Ive been through a lot worse than gum surgery so thats not my major concern, but I would like to know more about cost. From what I could research and what ive been told by the doc it costs about $1000 per tooth, and so Im looking at as much as $12,000 to have this done. He seems real honest and really educated me on the process and has a bare bone office so to me that means he should be a fair price. He said he will not charge me extra for the allograft (tissue from a cadavar) and that he would charge $600 for the teeth adjacent to the one tooth that would be $1000, so thats $2200 for 3 teeth. SO $2200 x4 would be $8800 for all the work. He hasnt sent me the written proposal so the cost could be more or less, im not sure.

Aynone with knowledge of this?

 

[Crowler]

YIKES rough to hear that.

Are you saying you have receeding gums?

If so maybe you want to try the following for 3 months and then go back to see your dentist for a re-evaluation or even see another dentist for a second opinion.


Do ALL of the following 3 times per day

Brush with an electric toothbrush for 2 min each time. BUT be VERY gentle.

Instead of using toothpaste use baking soda. Then floss your teeth be VERY thorough but gentle. Rinse your mouth for 1 minute with 1 part water, 1 part Hydrogen peroxide and a good dose of salt.

Keep a SOFT bristle tooth brush near you and work your way up to massaging the gums 3 - 4 times a day with the toothbrush DRY, NO water.

NONE of this should hurt your gums. They should feel nice and leave your gums refreshed.

Do this for 3 months EVERY day and there is a good chance you will save yourself 12K.

What it does:

The salt pulls the gums back a TINY bit so you can get in there to the germs/bacteria so when you dental floss and brush your teeth you get rid of the bacteria which causes gums to recede.

The flossing makes the are un-hospitable to bacteria.

The hydrogen peroxide gives an additional step to kill the unwanted bacteria.

 

[maldorf]

YIKES rough to hear that.

Are you saying you have receeding gums?

If so maybe you want to try the following for 3 months and then go back to see your dentist for a re-evaluation or even see another dentist for a second opinion.


Do ALL of the following 3 times per day

Brush with an electric toothbrush for 2 min each time. BUT be VERY gentle.

Instead of using toothpaste use baking soda. Then floss your teeth be VERY thorough but gentle. Rinse your mouth for 1 minute with 1 part water, 1 part Hydrogen peroxide and a good dose of salt.

Keep a SOFT bristle tooth brush near you and work your way up to massaging the gums 3 - 4 times a day with the toothbrush DRY, NO water.

NONE of this should hurt your gums. They should feel nice and leave your gums refreshed.

Do this for 3 months EVERY day and there is a good chance you will save yourself 12K.

What it does:

The salt pulls the gums back a TINY bit so you can get in there to the germs/bacteria so when you dental floss and brush your teeth you get rid of the bacteria which causes gums to recede.

The flossing makes the are un-hospitable to bacteria.

The hydrogen peroxide gives an additional step to kill the unwanted bacteria.

Thanks for the advice. Those are all things I should have been doing all along, but now im 42 yrs old and its too late. Once the gums recede its game over because they wont grow back. The plan is to do the grafts and then take good care of your gums after that to minimize the loss. He said some people are just born with gums that dont go down the tooth very far and that are thin. Hopefully getting them done this once will be enough to last me the rest of my life, and that shouldnt be too hard to achieve!

I know of some people that had to have this done and they were only in their early to mid 30s.

I will be buying an electric tooth brush ASAP and get started on that. For those that dont know, brushing too hard with the toothbrush will wear down your gums over time. ALl of that abrasion is bad for them and the electric tooth brush is real gentle.

 

[method2madness]

I had this procedure done about 16 months ago on my two front bottom teeth(not sure what they are called scientifically). Recovery was a bit of a hassle but anyone who's been through any surgery will have no problem with recovery on this. The dentist gave me a special mouthwash to use for 1 week and said to be on a liquid diet for the first 48 hours. The $$ you've estimated is pretty reliable, I'd say give or take a few hundred depending on who you go to. But believe me brother, it's money well spent unless you want dentures by the age of 50. Just passing along what my dentist said to me. Best of luck to you.
Peace,
M2M

Looks like I got the short end of genetics on gums too. My gums are prone to recession and the dentist has been watching them for the past 10 yrs. It has progressed to the point now that I need to have gum tissue surgically grafted. I need it on all of my molars, so thats 12 teeth.

I am making this thread to see if any of you have had this procdure done. I would like to know how recovery was for you and what the cost was like. Ive been through a lot worse than gum surgery so thats not my major concern, but I would like to know more about cost. From what I could research and what ive been told by the doc it costs about $1000 per tooth, and so Im looking at as much as $12,000 to have this done. He seems real honest and really educated me on the process and has a bare bone office so to me that means he should be a fair price. He said he will not charge me extra for the allograft (tissue from a cadavar) and that he would charge $600 for the teeth adjacent to the one tooth that would be $1000, so thats $2200 for 3 teeth. SO $2200 x4 would be $8800 for all the work. He hasnt sent me the written proposal so the cost could be more or less, im not sure.

Aynone with knowledge of this?

 

[Crowler]

Thanks for the advice. Those are all things I should have been doing all along, but now im 42 yrs old and its too late. Once the gums recede its game over because they wont grow back. The plan is to do the grafts and then take good care of your gums after that to minimize the loss. He said some people are just born with gums that dont go down the tooth very far and that are thin. Hopefully getting them done this once will be enough to last me the rest of my life, and that shouldnt be too hard to achieve!

I know of some people that had to have this done and they were only in their early to mid 30s.

I will be buying an electric tooth brush ASAP and get started on that. For those that dont know, brushing too hard with the toothbrush will wear down your gums over time. ALl of that abrasion is bad for them and the electric tooth brush is real gentle.

Yes for sure we should all take better care of our teeth but please believe me it is NOT too late.

This was followed by my aunt who is 60 and 3 months later her dentist was AMAZED at the change and guess what this past week she had a re-evaluation? And NO need for the skin graphs.

Hey Maldorf to possibly save 12K I think it is well worth at try at least.

This was in Prevention magazine 35 years ago and it STILL works.

I am older than you and it CAN reverse it.

BTW I had gum skin graph because a mistake a dentist made when working on my teeth. It was a TINY skin graph and I took perfect care of it. Well here we are 3 graphs later and it still is now working.

You could VERY possibly spend the 12K only to need to go have it repaired over and over through the next 30 years.

 

[maldorf]

Yes for sure we should all take better care of our teeth but please believe me it is NOT too late.

This was followed by my aunt who is 60 and 3 months later her dentist was AMAZED at the change and guess what this past week she had a re-evaluation? And NO need for the skin graphs.

Hey Maldorf to possibly save 12K I think it is well worth at try at least.

This was in Prevention magazine 35 years ago and it STILL works.

I am older than you and it CAN reverse it.

BTW I had gum skin graph because a mistake a dentist made when working on my teeth. It was a TINY skin graph and I took perfect care of it. Well here we are 3 graphs later and it still is now working.

You could VERY possibly spend the 12K only to need to go have it repaired over and over through the next 30 years.

You sound very convinced of this and you are starting to make me think maybe it migth work. I guess it wouldnt hurt for me to wait another 3 months and give it a try. If it saves my $8500-$10000 then it would be well worth the wait. I can think of a lot more things I would rather spend that kind of money on. Im just worried though because everything I have heard is contrary to what you say, but 3 months is worth a try. Gonna give this serious thought, thanks.

 

[maldorf]

I had this procedure done about 16 months ago on my two front bottom teeth(not sure what they are called scientifically). Recovery was a bit of a hassle but anyone who's been through any surgery will have no problem with recovery on this. The dentist gave me a special mouthwash to use for 1 week and said to be on a liquid diet for the first 48 hours. The $$ you've estimated is pretty reliable, I'd say give or take a few hundred depending on who you go to. But believe me brother, it's money well spent unless you want dentures by the age of 50. Just passing along what my dentist said to me. Best of luck to you.
Peace,
M2M

Yeah, I dont want dentures or have to spend even more money on dental implants. those implants are major major cash. I think those run about $5000 a tooth.

 

[panzerfaust]

I have the same problem with receding gums. My dentist gave me a booklet on something called Arestin, here is a link you might find interesting **broken link removed**
The space between the gum and the tooth is known as a pocket,depending on the pocket depth 7mm or more has the highest risk of permanent damage.I had a "deep gum cleaning" and was shocked to see all the junk that came out from between my teeth, maybe if your "pockets" are not so wide you can get away with a deep gum cleaning and a treatment of Arestin, which is basically a time released antibiotic that is placed right into the affected pockets. as it is late feel free to PM me if you need any info.

 

[Skorpion100]

I have real bad receding gum lines on my molars for some reason. My dentist says it is genetic even though I take excellent care of my teeth. I'm looking into a new procedure called the "Chao pinhole" surgery technique. It is cheaper than normal grafting and takes way less time to heal up. Here is a link to some info on it: **broken link removed**

 

[Skorpion100]

I've also learned that using a water pick filled with hydrogen peroxide is way more healthier and beneficial to the gums that normal flossing and that by using the hydrogen peroxide, it will help cause a little gum tissue growth over time.

 

[ubermensch]

What kind of electric tooth brush is suggested. I have sonic care I never use because it feels weird. Should I be using it

 

[Skorpion100]

What kind of electric tooth brush is suggested. I have sonic care I never use because it feels weird. Should I be using it

I've always used SonicCare and never had a problem with it.

 

[Bio]

Guys keep in mind that this thread is from Feb 2012...Not that the info can't be helpful.

 

[Deadin]

Gums will not advance back to their pre-disease levels without surgery. How worthwhile surgery actually is is up for debate, it certainly has a place. The only thing you will achieve with a excellent oral hygiene is reattachment of gums in areas of deep pocketing. With that being said, graft or no graft, your condition will continue to deteriorate unless your cleaning improves. With a family predispostion that means you have to work harder than the average guy, genetics at play again unfortunately.

 

[panzerfaust]

Guys keep in mind that this thread is from Feb 2012...Not that the info can't be helpful.

That's what happens when you log on at 3-4am,BUT this is good info as we tend to eat much more than the general public. Everyone should take this seriously as it says above, once it gets to a certain point it's too late.That's what this board is for, to learn from each other. There is also something called a "proxabrush", that my dentist gave some samples of,take a look if you are having any dental problems,G-U-M Proxabrush Refills for Wide Tooth Spaces, Tapered, 614RG | drugstore.com