I have the weirdest thing going on. There are black deposits at my gum`line. They’re not brushing off, but if I scrape at them with a dental scaler tool I bought on Amazon, they will come off. Have you heard of this before?
Bruce
Dear Bruce,
Moderate Dental Calculus
Yes, the black deposits you are seeing, are dental calculus. This is a bad sign and you need to get with a periodontist and start a gum disease treatment program. This type of calculus will lead to your teeth coming loose and falling out.
It is interesting to me that you have your own scaler. This is usually for one of two reasons. Either the patient is obsessive about their oral hygiene or they don’t often get to the dentist. Sometimes the latter is because of financial considerations, but most of the time it is because of dental anxiety.
Dental anxiety is fairly common and usually stems from a bad experience at the dentist. We don’t want to compound that issue. When you have periodontal disease, your gums will be tender. If you already struggle with dental anxiety, I am going to strongly suggest you see a periodontist who also offers sedation dentistry. This will allow you to get the treatment you need in an anxiety-free manner.
You may find it changes your view of dental care as well. Patients who spent years avoiding the dentist now go regularly without any anxiety and have the oral health and smile they’ve always wanted.
This blog is brought to you by Atlanta Periodontist Dr. David Pumphrey.
