QUESTION: Hi Dr. Manhart, I hope your trip to Europe went well!
I really want to learn how to use the calcium/zinc chips. I’m afraid I will injure my gums trying to insert them. I would like to put some between up upper molar #4 tooth. This tooth has tipped in over the years and the area is very tight next to a crown. The gum bleeds when I really get in their to floss. I did see a periodontist and she suggested I just remove the tooth. She said I wasn’t doing a good enough job on flossing etc, and it was better to loose one tooth then to loose the others next to because of bone loss. My periodontal probing readings on this tooth were 535. I told her I wanted to try to maintain the tooth as long as I could. I am already missing two molars on the left side of my mouth. I can’t handle the loss of another tooth!! I decided to skip the Scaling/Root Planing for now. I am in limbo wondering what dentist I can go to that will just let me have a regular dental cleaning! It seems like they all want to push these days are deep cleanings all the time! I need to see a dentist regularly because I have a mouth full of white fillings, some are quite deep, and I tend to build up tartar quickly. Do you have any advice for what to look for in a dentist when most of them have the same dental philosophies and practices. Are there some mainstream dentists that are better than others, and how do you find them? I greatly appreciate your help, Sincerely, ES in Illinois
ANSWER: IL may be the last State in the universe to make it out of the 1975 era of dentistry, even with all the high-tech equipment. I used to present there every year and it is worse than in the 1960s. Dentists have not been allowed to learn what we have developed. Here’s some 2015 ideas. Beautiful white fillings are not a great improvement when it comes to saving the teeth.
Dump the floss, it only maintains the infections, just like measuring gum pockets. Don’t let anyone do that again to you. What you got was gum surgery. We call it deep cleaning. etc…
When the calcium chips are used between the teeth UNDER THE GUMS gently a few times a week, they work great. The Homecare Kit will give you a good idea of how to solve this condition.
If we see you in the office we can figure out the causes and solve the infection. Send your x-rays – especially #8+9 and a Selfie of the mouth with teeth closed in the back and lips drawn back to see the bite.
Mark DDS