I need some advice about making my teeth look nice. When I was little I had terribly bucked teeth because of thumb sucking. I did have braces to fix them, but now some of my teeth seem to have shifted. There’s a huge gap between my lateral incisor and my canine. It makes me uncomfortable to smile. I went to see my dentist and he said the gap is from my teeth shifting due to gum disease. What can I do to fix this?
Morgan
Dear Morgan,
I seriously hope this isn’t the first you are hearing about the gum disease. If so, your dentist is negligent and it may cost you some teeth. Once gum disease is far enough along to cause teeth to shift, the problem is severe. This means they are already getting loose and you’ve lost at least half your bone support. The next thing they’ll do is fall out!
Your priority number one is getting the gum disease treated and under control You can’t even think about fixing their appearance until this is done. I would see a periodontist for treatment instead of your normal dentist. This will take some serious gum disease treatment and general dentists usually only handle the early stages. Once it gets to your level, they will give you a referral. In some cases, treatment will require surgery.
After You’ve Seen a Periodontist
Once your gum disease is under control, that’s when you can move forward with getting a smile you are proud of. There is a chance the teeth which have shifted cannot be saved. If that happens, there are fantastic tooth replacement options. My suggestion would be dental implants, though because of your gum disease you may need some bone grafting done first. Once they’re in, though, implants are like having healthy teeth in your mouth again.
If your teeth can be saved, your best bet would be to straighten them again. Now that you’re an adult, you won’t want a mouth full of metal wires and brackets. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can now straighten your teeth with Invisalign, which uses clear aligners.
This blog is brought to you by Atlanta Periodontist Dr. David Pumphrey.
